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Real estate groups urged the Fed to stop rate hikes. Here’s why._我的网站
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Bonnie Chan, CEO of the HKEX, made the remarks during an event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reported on Tuesday. She noted that in 2025, the city recorded 120 IPOs, raising $39.5 billion and ranking first among global fundraising platforms.
Global capital is refocusing on Asia, particularly China. In the past, capital was highly concentrated in the US market and in just one or two sectors. However, with changes in the political and macroeconomic landscapes, investors have come to recognize the need for risk diversification, and this trend is beneficial to both Malaysia and Hong Kong, said Chan.
Chan called on Malaysian companies to consider listing in Hong Kong to gain access to Chinese mainland investors. Malaysia supported 60 IPOs in 2025, the highest number in 20 years. If companies want to reach a broader investor base and deeper capital pools, Hong Kong is an ideal choice, she added.
Hu Qimu, a professor at the Maritime Silk Road Institute of Huaqiao University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that as a major international financial center, the HKEX's value in global resource allocation has become even more prominent, helping to attract capital from around the world.
During the event, Chan noted that market participants previously believed companies needed China-related business to list in Hong Kong, but this perception has changed in recent years.
She noted that last year, a Dubai-based baby diaper company with operations concentrated in Africa and Latin America listed in Hong Kong. A few months ago, Indonesian gold mining company Modecta completed its IPO in the city. Neither company generates any revenue in the Chinese mainland.
Hu noted that the HKEX boasts a broad international investor base, with information disclosure and corporate governance standards that are internationally recognized.
Moreover, it has become an important platform and intermediary connecting international capital with industries in the Chinese mainland. For foreign companies, listing in Hong Kong is equivalent to opening the door to mainland investors and the pool of yuan capital, Hu added.
Several international financial institutions have also expressed confidence in the Hong Kong capital market. PwC expects Hong Kong's full-year IPO fundraising to reach HK$380 billion ($48.43 billion), with growth momentum expected to continue into 2027, driven by listings of leading Chinese mainland companies and strong interest from international investors in high-growth new economy sectors.
Goldman Sachs said on July 23 that the post-listing performance of new shares in Hong Kong has been quite outstanding. New shares listed between 2025 and 2026 are expected to achieve a median return of about 20 percent and an average return of 60 percent within three months after listing, far exceeding previous years. Goldman Sachs said that market liquidity is ample, and it has predicted that the full-year fundraising in 2026 will reach $60 billion.
Hu noted that backed by the steady and positive trajectory of China's economy and the continuous upgrading of its industrial chains, investment and IPOs in Hong Kong will become more active.
。 Major housing industry groups voiced "profound concern" in a letter this week urging the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates.The rare public admonishment from top business advocates -- including the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders -- underscores a dramatic slowdown in the housing market due in large part to rising interest rates.The letter arrives roughly three weeks before the Fed plans to make its latest rate-hike decision.Mortgage rates have reached their highest level in more than two decades and they have continued to rise. Data released on Thursday showed that mortgage rates increased for the fifth consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac."The speed and magnitude of these [mortgage] rate increases, and resulting dislocation in our industry, is painful and unprecedented," the letter from the housing groups said.Here's what to know about why real estate groups called on the Fed to stop raising rates:
What's happening in the housing market?
Sky-high mortgage rates have dramatically slowed the housing market, since homebuyers have balked at stiff borrowing costs and home sellers have opted to stay on mortgages that lock them into relatively low rates.Mortgage applications have fallen to their lowest level since 1996, the Mortgage Brokers Association said earlier this month.Sales of previously owned homes, meanwhile, have plummeted more than 15% compared to a year ago, the National Association of Realtors found in August.The slowdown has coincided with a sharp rise in costs for potential homebuyers.The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has climbed to nearly 7.6%, Freddie Mac data shows.When the Fed initiated the rise of bond yields with its first rate hike of the current series in March 2022, the average 30-year fixed mortgage stood at just 4.45%.Each percentage point increase in a mortgage rate can add thousands or tens of thousands in additional costs each year, depending on the price of the house, according to Rocket Mortgage.What role is the Federal Reserve playing in the housing market slowdown?
An aggressive series of interest rate hikes at the Federal Reserve since last year has pushed up the 10-year Treasury yield, which loosely tracks with long-term mortgage rates.The Fed has fought elevated inflation with borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand.While inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of about 9% last summer, price increases remain more than a percentage point higher than the Fed's inflation target.Price increases held steady in September, fresh data on Thursday showed, suggesting that elevated inflation remains resistant to the interest rate hikes.The persistence of elevated inflation has prompted the Fed to espouse a policy of holding interest rates at high levels for a prolonged period, which in turn has increased the 10-year Treasury yield and put upward pressure on mortgage rates.Moreover, the Fed expects to raise rates one more time this year, according to projections released last month.Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C., last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the continued effect of interest rates on mortgages, noting that activity in the housing market "remains well below levels of a year ago, largely reflecting higher mortgage rates."What do the housing industry groups want the Fed to do?
Housing industry advocates want the Fed to take swift actions that reassure investors and other market participants of an end to the policies cooling the industry.Most notably, the industry groups want the central bank to release a statement saying that it has abandoned consideration of additional rate hikes.In their letter to Fed officials, the housing groups cautioned that a further slowdown in real estate could help tip the U.S. economy into a recession, scuttling the central bank's effort to achieve a "soft landing.""We urge the Fed to take these simple steps to ensure that this sector does not precipitate the hard landing the Fed has tried so hard to avoid," the letter said.。Current article:http://iai810.zuanniangwandangliaolinechu.sbs/news/20260826_222506.html
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