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Hong Kong property deals down 26 pct in January

HONG KONG: The number of property transactions in Hong Kong fell 26 percent in January from the year-ago month and deals' total value went down 16.3 percent, the government said on Tuesday.

Hong Kong's Land Registry received 6,955 sale and purchase agreements on residential and non-residential building units last month, up of 3.6 percent over December but down 26 percent from January last year, a government statement said.

The total value of last month's agreements was about HK$20.1 billion, up 9.4 percent on December and down 16.3 percent on January 1999.

These statistics generally relate to land transactions executed up to four weeks prior to their submission for registration as there is usually a time lag between the execution of deeds and their lodgement for registration. -Reuters