HK official issues warning on property market  

香港“财爷”：最忧楼市与经济表现严重脱节

香港特区政府财政司司长曾俊华21日表示，外围环境艰难，香港的出口前景不容乐观，必须提防经济会有进一步转坏的风险。而最让他忧虑的是现时香港楼市与经济表现严重脱节。

Hong Kong (CNS) –– Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Tsang Chun-wah said on Sunday that he worried that Hong Kong's real estate market had "decoupled" from the local economy.

Housing prices rose an average of 2 percent a month in the first eight months of this year, a sharp contrast with the slowdown in the local economy, he said on his official blog. Increasing rents have also contributed to the risk of inflation, he added.

Hong Kong is vulnerable to gloomy global economic conditions: the city's exports remained low during the first eight months and local demand slowed, resulting in a higher unemployment rate in the third quarter, Tsang said.

The government will try its best to maintain stability in the macro-economy and financial market, Tsang said.