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The rich first generations should take responsibility for the things rich second generations did

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Real Estate Situation

The rich first generations should take responsibility for the things rich second generations did

 

Damon Ho

14/6/2025

In May, the property market showed a slight improvement in transactions, mainly due to the fact that the mortgage rate is below 3%. As a result, some users have quickened their pace of entering the market. Although the market sentiment has been improving slightly, there are still reports that investors are selling their properties at a huge discount, so it is hard to say that the property market will stop falling and rebound soon.

 

This property market adjustment has been lasting for about four years, and the decline has reached 30%. However, for ordinary users, as long as they are not laid off, they still pay for their monthly installment. Although their premises may have become negative assets, it does not have significant impact on their daily life.

 

The current market decline is different from the past cyclical pattern. The main reason is that the upward momentum of the shop and commercial property markets have collapsed, and many wealthy people hold lots of these high-leveraged premises for investment purposes. As the premises prices fell more than 50%, the company's working capital will quickly dried up and the debt ratio is easily raised to a dangerous level. With such financial status, these companies are on the verge of bankruptcy.

 

Many of the real estate tycoons who collectively got into trouble this year were caused by the multiple wrong decisions which were made by the rich second generations who were in charge. In general, these riches studied abroad at an early age and entered the management team of their family company in their early twenties. When they took over the family business, they were thirtysomethings. With a strong background and excellent education, they were naturally arrogant. When negotiating a business deal, they liked to follow the trend and tried their best to achieve a big deal.

 

These rich second generations had never experienced the demanding work of starting a business, so how can they know what to do the right things with the limitations of their capability? In the big bull market a few years ago, their aggressive investment style won the market's attention, and one of them even got the honor of the best CEO title. However, the market conditions have changed rapidly in the past three years. Finally, the bigger things they did, the more miserable they would be. Half of the rich second generations might not be as rich as their first generations. Indeed, this reality turns into a solid curse.

 

The rich second generations are easily spoiled by the rich first generations. Like father, like son. However, the roots of the troubles of some wealthy families came from the inappropriate decisions of the older generation over seventies. In the past few years, they have taken an aggressive turn in achieving mega investments. In fact, the recent business structural shift happens only once in fifty years. To the general riches, it is almost impossible to avoid this disaster.

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1. The market concerns New World's liquidity 2025-06-15 09:03:45

New world development Co. Ltd.’s decision to defer coupon payments on four senior perpetual bonds has raised investor concerns over the company’s liquidity, S&P Global Ratings said. 

The move follows its earlier choice not to call a $2.71b (US$345m) perpetual bond, leading to a coupon step-up from 6.15% to around 10% in mid-June.

S&P warns the situation could hurt buyer confidence and weigh on Hong Kong’s property market, potentially pushing home prices down 5% to 7% this year. 

 
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