(The new chapter is still more than 500 words left to be written, and it will be revised into a new chapter within an hour, so you can wait until tomorrow morning to read it!Sorry, forgive me!)

The hottest topic in Hong Kong in May was "whether there is a ready-made bubble due to high property prices". Affected by the political turmoil in the mainland, a new round of immigration has suddenly emerged in Hong Kong since the second half of last year. A large number of Hong Kong people who are preparing to emigrate overseas are eager to sell off their property holdings, causing Hong Kong's property prices to plummet, halved by a third in a few months.

But since the beginning of this year, the shadow of the "political turmoil" has begun to fade, and everyone's mentality has returned from the previous panic to calm. Citizens with rigid demand for housing took advantage of the low property prices to make moves, so Hong Kong's property market quickly recovered. Especially after the recent announcement of the Eastern Bloc that it will launch a new round of large-scale investment in the mainland, the confidence of the whole market has been boosted.

As the largest local consortium in Hong Kong, and Li Xuan, as the world's richest man for many years, both expressed their continued optimism about the future development prospects of the mainland with practical actions. This undoubtedly reassured many people who were panicked. After all, when the sky falls, there are tall ones who stand first, and Li Xuan, a super-rich man, will naturally become a weather vane in the eyes of many people!

Recently, the speculation of real estate properties, which has disappeared for nearly a year, has once again reappeared in Hong Kong. There is a grapevine that Cheung Kong Group will launch the Huijing Garden real estate in advance, so in front of the Chinese at the headquarters of Cheung Kong Group, there was a long queue of two or three thousand people to buy houses overnight.

In the mid-80s, Li Ka-shing cooperated with the Hong Kong MTR Corporation to win a number of MTR station superstructure projects in one fell swoop. The Sceneway Garden, built on the platform of Lam Tin Station of MTR Line 2, is the last large-scale private housing estate project developed by Cheung Kong along the MTR line. Although Cheung Kong Company then came out urgently to refute the rumors, saying that Huijing Garden was planned to be completed in August 1992, and the company would not open this year, the crowd in line was still reluctant to leave.

Due to the limited size of Sceneway Gardens, the total number of residential units available in the nine towers of the development is less than 1,000. According to the sales practice of Hong Kong developers, the maximum number of units launched for the first launch is only 78% of the total number of residential units.

In other words, those who are at the back of the line have no chance of buying a house at all. So there was a ridiculous speculative deal, and one speculator simply began to consult with the people at the front of the line. He was willing to buy a queue number at a price of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars, but a group of people were stunned and did not react.

In the end, when the price was raised all the way to 70,000 Hong Kong dollars, a person in the fiftieth position in the queue stood up and sold his position on the spot with money! And this scene happened after Cheung Kong Company had refuted the rumors on the spot and said that there was no sales plan today, which also shows how prevalent the property speculation atmosphere in Hong Kong is.

The term "off-the-plan" was first invented by Huo Yingdong, known as the "red capitalist", in the 50s, and it is, to put it bluntly, a kind of pre-sale house. At that time, Huo Yingdong, who had just earned his first pot of gold by smuggling scarce materials to the mainland during the Korea-Xian War, was interested in entering the real estate industry in Hong Kong.

However, real estate is a capital-intensive industry, and Huo's accumulated strength is still slightly insufficient. So Huo Yingdong came up with a way to "sell off-the-plan" properties, and when the real estate just started construction, it was sold at a certain discounted price. In this way, he can withdraw the funds in advance and use the buyer's money to build the building, which greatly reduces the development cost and development risk of the real estate.

For home buyers, buying options in advance can get a bigger discount than buying an existing home. After the house is delivered, even if it is not self-occupied, it can be resold to other buyers at the opening price, and a large price difference can be obtained in the middle, which is the origin of speculation.

Of course, speculation on pre-sale properties needs to be based on the premise that housing prices are rising and the property market is in short supply. For example, last year, Hong Kong's property prices plummeted, and they were cut in half by one-third in just a few months, making people who speculated on pre-sale properties lose so much that they vomited blood and chose to default halfway.

Buying an off-plan property can be divided into two types according to the different payment methods. One is to pay it all at once, so that the discount is the greatest. The other is to pay in installments according to the construction progress of the real estate, such as the first payment for 25% of the completion, and the second payment for the second payment for 50% of the completion.

Although the discount is not as large as the first one, it will be relatively less risky for home buyers. Once the real estate is unfinished, or the property price plummets, buyers still have the opportunity to stop paying and survive to reduce their losses.

Therefore, in last year's frenzy of halving property prices, many speculators who bought pre-sale properties and just started to pay for them chose to default. This also directly led to a number of weak small developers, who fell into difficulties in capital turnover for a while, and finally a few of them did not survive and could only go bankrupt!

But when the property market is booming, speculating on pre-sale properties is almost synonymous with getting rich overnight. For example, in Hong Kong in 1986, the real estate industry ushered in the first wave of big rise since it came out of the future crisis. At that time, Heng Fa Estate, a large private housing estate in Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island, launched 448 units for sale in the first phase. A large number of buyers, including proxy queuers, speculators and corporate brokers, have been queuing day and night eight days before the market opens.

Among them, six people from three generations of grandparents and grandchildren went to line up together, and finally successfully got five application forms for buying a house. As soon as the family got the application form, people immediately surrounded them and wanted to buy it. In the end, these blank application forms were bought by speculators at a price of HK$40,000 each, which means that this lucky family only spent a week and made a net profit of HK$200,000.

In fact, compared to real speculators, they actually only make a fraction of the money. Because the house price of Heng Fa Estate has risen by at least 300,000 yuan in less than a month after the opening of the market, even the price of the smallest unit has risen by at least 300,000 yuan. That is to say, the (5) application forms purchased by the previous speculators for 200,000 yuan only need to wait for a month after paying the money to buy the house, and they can reap at least 130 net profits.

It is precisely because property speculation can earn hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars as soon as it changes hands, that Hong Kong society has rapidly formed a gambler mentality since the 80s, and it has developed as soon as it wins or loses, and when it wins. People who work hard to earn money are far less likely to live than speculators who do not do their jobs, and this great frustration is a great disservice to society as a whole.

In the past, although some people of insight in Hong Kong were aware of the hidden dangers brought by speculative property market to Hong Kong society. But the strong influence of Hong Kong's major real estate developers has made it impossible for these dissenting voices to stir up waves. Real estate companies have always been the largest advertisers of major newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong.

Almost every real estate developer buys a full-page, full-page layout for sales advertising. Therefore, in order not to offend these financiers, the editors-in-chief of various newspapers and magazines are naturally reluctant to publish articles and opinions that are not conducive to the property market.

Because for real estate companies, the hotter the Hong Kong property market is speculated, the more they will earn. Therefore, many companies are even secretly cooperating with property speculators, covering up the market and reluctant to sell, further exacerbating the panic of home buyers, and then taking advantage of the trend to increase the price and grab more profits.

And this time it was different, Li Xuan's TV station and newspaper bravely fired the first shot. Although Oriental Group itself is not involved in the real estate industry, it is strong enough to compete with the big real estate companies in Hong Kong.

Just when others were about to enjoy a dragon and tiger battle drama of "God of Wealth Li vs. Real Estate Boss", Li Jiacheng, known as the "real estate superman", suddenly accepted an exclusive interview with Hong Kong Economic Journal, and agreed with the view that "the imbalance between supply and demand in Hong Kong's property market has caused irrational rise in property prices".

The entire Hong Kong media circles were in an uproar, knowing that "Li Chaoren" was notoriously tough. In the past, a Hong Kong newspaper published a frivolous report ridiculing Li Jiacheng, but Li Ka-shing immediately instructed Cheung Kong Group to withdraw the advertising contract and permanently ban him. In the end, the newspaper had no choice but to bow to Li Jiacheng and fire the reporter who wrote the lace report there.

It is precisely because of this experience that there are almost no negative reports about Li Ka-shing and Cheung Kong Group in Hong Kong's newspapers and magazines. In contrast, Li Xuan is much more tolerant of the media. As long as it is not maliciously slandered and slandered, or it is forbidden in advance such as exposing photos of his children, Li Xuan laughs at other lace news surrounding him. Of course, if a reporter dares to break through the bottom line and make him angry, Li Xuan will definitely make him regret not changing careers in advance!

One Li Jiacheng is enough to make Hong Kong's media circles cautious, and if all the real estate tycoons in Hong Kong join forces, it will be enough to fight with the "God of Wealth Lee" for 300 rounds. You must know that taking Hong Kong's housing prices is undoubtedly a sore foot for the entire Hong Kong real estate industry. Because the house will always sell better and better the price rises, and the more it falls, the more it can't be sold!

But what everyone didn't expect was that Li Jiacheng, the boss of Hong Kong's largest real estate company, unexpectedly turned back, which made a big battle that was supposed to be Mars hit the earth not pinched at all. Subsequently, Sun Hung Kai's Guo Desheng, Henderson's Li Zhaoji, Wharf's Bao Yugang and others also spoke out one after another, agreeing with Li Jiacheng's views.

At this time, even the most insensitive people have already discovered that something is wrong, and where is this "God of Wealth Li" and the major real estate tycoons preparing to fight, and they are joining hands to present a double reed performance to the Hong Kong citizens! Since even the bosses of real estate companies admit that Hong Kong's housing prices are too high, the editors and reporters of Hong Kong's major newspapers and magazines are naturally no longer allowed to scruple about this topic, which they have never dared to touch before.

The reason why Hong Kong's housing prices have risen so outrageously is because of less supply than demand, and on the other hand, because of speculation. In fact, the cause of this problem is also very easy to find. The answer to the problem is clear: build more houses and bring supply and demand back into equilibrium, so that there is no room for speculators.

But to build a house, you must first have land, and land needs to be approved from the Hong Kong government. As a result, the spearhead of public opinion slowly began to concentrate on the head of the Hong Kong government. In the past, scolding the government was not something Hong Kong newspapers and magazines dared to do often.

Hong Kong is a colony, and the Governor of Hong Kong has far more power in Hong Kong than the British Prime Minister has in Downing Street. Every policy issued by the British Prime Minister will be analyzed and refuted under a microscope by Fleet Street, and in many cases, it will be misinterpreted and smeared by the opposition parties, protested by the people, and questioned by Parliament. In Hong Kong, on the other hand, the Governor of Hong Kong is a hall of words, and even the members of the Legislature-Judiciary and the Executive-Political Bureau are appointed by him.

However, this situation began to change after Li's TV was acquired by Li Xuan and renamed Asia Television. At Li Xuan's request and support, ATV began to increase the proportion of current political news programs, and more and more spicy views were transmitted to the eyes and ears of every Hong Kong citizen through ATV's screen.

No matter how democratic-owned and efficient the government is, it will not be able to satisfy every citizen. In a way, they are naturally opposed to each other. The Hong Kong government's desire to promote the process of democratization in Hong Kong is giving ASV an excellent opportunity to establish its life for the people.

What is the British government in Hong Kong? It is a colonial government that is not subject to the supervision and deterrence of votes, and it is not too easy to grasp its pigtails. ATV chose some less sensitive livelihood issues at the beginning, and slowly began to deepen gradually. In the debate after debate, ATV's credibility gradually began to take root in the hearts of the people, and its image as a representative of Hong Kong citizens was gradually recognized.

With ATV as a leading role model for the rebellion, it is only natural that other media in Hong Kong are starting to become more and more bold. For example, the debate over housing prices in Hong Kong was the first to point the finger at the Hong Kong government, rather than other media outlets of the ATV Group.

One tabloid was the first to question the Hong Kong government's policy of selling land at high prices, citing Singapore as an example. The prevailing perception in Hong Kong has long been that the Hong Kong government's income from land sales at high prices supports most of the government's spending. If there is no revenue from land sales, Hong Kong would have to raise taxes significantly to maintain its balance of payments. This will undermine Hong Kong's competitiveness as a ****** and be detrimental to the long-term prosperity of Hong Kong's export-oriented economy.

However, it is far fairer to regulate the secondary distribution of wealth through taxation than the Hong Kong government is doing now. Most of the cost of land transfer money is passed on to low- and middle-income earners, who are the main part of the market. The control of land auctions artificially creates an imbalance between supply and demand, so that real estate developers and banks can join the Hong Kong government to make a lot of money by shearing the wool of ordinary Hong Kong citizens.

And because of Hong Kong's low tax policy, the tax costs for the rich are much lower than those in the United States and Europe, which further exacerbates the widening gap between the rich and the poor. (To be continued.) )