(Yicai) Nov. 28 -- Residential property prices in Hong Kong rebounded last month, mainly thanks to the introduction of a series of supportive policies by the special administrative region’s government.

The Private Residential Property Price Index rose 0.6 percent to 290.1 in October from the previous month, ending a five-month decline, according to data released yesterday by the Hong Kong Rating and Valuation Department. The figure fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier.

In mid-October, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee unveiled during his third annual policy address a series of measures to book the city’s property market, including easing mortgage regulations and hiking investment in the property investment immigration scheme.

The rental index came in at 194.9 points last month, down 0.3 percent from September but up 5.1 percent from a year earlier, according to RVD data. The figure rose 4.8 percent in the first 10 months of the year.

Almost 3,000 new apartments were sold in Hong Kong in October, according to data from real estate agency Centaline Property. New home sales in the city have exceeded 15,000 units so far this year, up more than 30 percent from the figure for the whole of last year.

The SAR government announced on Feb. 28 the cancelation of special stamp duty, buyers stamp duty, and new residency stamp duty for all property buyers in the city. The move significantly boosted the real estate market.

In the first nine months of the year, the new and pre-owned home markets recorded a total of 33,915 transactions, of which 8,133 were purchased by Chinese mainland residents for a total of HKD90.6 billion (USD11.6 billion), Centaline Property data also showed. In comparison, mainlanders bought 4,854 apartments in Hong Kong for HKD63.3 billion a year earlier.

Editor: Futura Costaglione