Tracking the progress of property investment is full-time work that requires looking at not only the prices of the property in the area one is interested in, but also looking at related industries to see how they are performing. Early yesterday, it was quite evident that at least one industry linked to property investment had made some gains that all property investors in Hong Kong should be able to hang their hats on.
Arguably, the biggest stumbling block to progress in the property industry recently has been the lack of credit. This lack of credit has been brought about by a general lack of enthusiasm and confidence in the growing of credit and was in particular the result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis that happened a few months back within the United States.
However, the positive outlook of bond insurers over the turn of the month has alleviated some of that anxiety and has caused some of the major financial institutions that are part of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to ease up some of the restrictions they had previously been placing on the obtaining of credit.
This resulted in a rallying of the financial sector on Friday, which ultimately ended up being the catalyst to an overall index gain of 336.18 points (2.85%) over just a single trading session.
The weather may also have had something to do with it, according to some of the analysts that keep a close eye on the Chinese and Hong Kong stock markets. According to some analysts, the particularly bad snow storms that hit the area actually resulted in an emergency response by the Chinese government, ensuring that emergency financing and credit were available as a response to damage caused by the snow.
While it is very difficult to say how long this easing up of credit restrictions will last, most analysts believe that it will last at least until the Lunar New Year holiday and that in turn should give individual overseas property investors the chance to quickly and easily grab some holdings in the area should they wish to do so.
