On June 25, the fifth "Global Wealth and High-end Lifestyle Report" released by Julius Baer showed that in 2024, the global average price increase in US dollars will slow down to 4% from 6% in 2023. This year, commodity prices have risen faster than service prices. In dollar terms, commodity prices have increased by an average of 5%, while service prices have increased by 4%. Inflation has gradually returned to normal levels over the past 12 months, but prices in various cities continue to rise.The report shows that Hong Kong is the only city in the Asia-Pacific region that has risen this year, rising from third to second place. Hong Kong's real estate prices remain the second highest in the world, and it is also the most expensive city to hire a lawyer.Asia Pacific is no longer the most expensive region, with prices falling in several cities, especially Tokyo (which dropped from 15th to 23rd). Bangkok fell from 11th to 17th place, while Jakarta fell from 12th to 14th place.

Hong Kong prices continue to riseOn June 21, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Government announced the Consumer Price Index for May 2024. According to the Composite Consumer Price Index, overall consumer prices in May 2024 increased by 1.2% compared with the same month a year ago, which was slightly higher than the corresponding increase in April 2024 (1.1%), but lower than the market estimate of an annual increase of 1.3%. Excluding the impact of all government one-time relief measures, the year-on-year increase in the Composite Consumer Price Index (i.e. the underlying inflation rate) in May 2024 was 1.0%, which was also slightly higher than in April 2024 (0.9%).

A Hong Kong government spokesman said that the underlying consumer price inflation rate remained slight in May. Prices for dining out and takeaways continue to rise sharply, while basic food prices are little changed. Prices for energy-related items fell further significantly. Price pressures on other major components remain largely under control. Looking ahead, overall, inflation should remain at a controllable level in the short term. Hong Kong's local cost pressures may increase as the economy continues to grow, and external price pressures should continue to generally slow down.

Housing prices continue to riseHong Kong, July 8 (Reuters) - Provisional figures released by the Hong Kong Rating and Valuation Department on Wednesday showed that private residential property prices in Hong Kong increased by 0.37% month-on-month in May. Property prices continued to climb to new highs, but the increase was significantly slower than in April; as for Rents have risen for 15 consecutive months and continue to reach record highs.The upward trend in property prices has continued for 15 months (except for a brief month of stasis in March this year). In the first five months of this year, property prices increased by 7.2%, mainly driven by the increase in small and medium-sized residential properties.In terms of residential rents, data pointed out that rents continued to hit a record high in May, rising 0.82% month-on-month, which was slightly lower than the 1% increase last month. The increase in rents was mainly driven by small and medium-sized residences dominated by user demand, A, B, C Rentals for residential properties increased by 0.92%, 0.88% and 0.65% month-on-month respectively during the month. D and E luxury housing rents increased by 0.13% and 0.2% respectively.In addition, according to the 2024 Global Housing Affordability Report, Hong Kong's residential price-to-household income ratio is as high as 16.7 times, making it still one of the most unaffordable cities in the world.

Increase in various costs●MTR: Some time ago, MTR announced a fare increase of 3.09% this year! According to the fare increase and decrease mechanism, fares for metropolitan tickets, monthly passes and Tuen Mun Nam Cheong will also increase. Metropolis tickets add NT$15 to NT$460; 5 monthly passes add NT$15 to NT$25, and the 5 monthly passes from Tung Chung to Hong Kong add NT$25 to NT$675.●Hong Kong and China Gas: It plans to increase standard gas charges by 1.3 cents per megajoule to 28.5 cents from August 1 this year, an increase of 4.8%! The fixed monthly maintenance fee is increased by 0.5 yuan to 10 yuan, an increase of 5.6%!

Why do prices in Hong Kong remain high?Financial market fluctuations and capital inflows have pushed up real estate prices and rents. Hong Kong is highly dependent on imported food, energy and daily necessities. Amid rising global supply chain bottlenecks and logistics costs, as well as rising international energy prices, it is difficult for prices to fall.In addition, the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar, causing the appreciation of the U.S. dollar to directly increase the price of imported goods. Large real estate developers control most of the residential land to push up property prices and rents. Income inequality also pushes up the cost of living.