回归后香港的土地和住房政策: 政治经济分析

香港特別行政區成立以來的 16 年充滿挑戰，特區政府舉步維艱。其間，回歸初期為了改善居住環境推出的房地產發展政策卻碰上亞洲金融風暴，導致香港房地產市場崩潰，大量市民成為負資產，特區政府為此付出了沉重的代價。自此以後，特區政府長期以市場主導為藉口，大幅度減少公屋的供應，並讓房地產發展商主導土地一級市場，減慢土地開發速度。2007-08 年世界金融風暴並沒有對香港的房地產市場帶來嚴重的衝擊；反而因為量化寬鬆，資金氾濫，名義和實質息率長期處於極低水準，一個新的房地產泡沫快速形成。過去幾年特區政府推出多項措施以期降低泡沫破滅的風險，包括大幅度增加房地產的交易成本，重新掌控一級土地市場，以及加大土地開發的速度和規模。但是，由於種種原因，政策推行遇上極大的阻力，而包括特首在內的特區政府的民意支持度和認受性也沒有因為良好的政策意願而有所提升。 The first sixteen years of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) was marked by severe challenges of all kinds. Among these were the difficulties arising from the collapse of the property bubble in the early days of Hong Kong’s return to China, which resulted in hundreds of thousands “homeowners” falling in the category of negative equity holders. For this, the SAR Government paid a very heavy price. From then onwards, market guidance has been used as an excuse for immensely scaling down of public housing construction and urban land development, as well as allowing developers to dominate the primary land market. In Hong Kong, property prices only experienced very mild and short downward corrections under the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Instead, the repeated rounds of quantitative easing launched by the FED of the United States fuelled another property bubble. Attempts have been made by the SAR Government in recent years to cool down the property market and resume control of the primary land market. However, due to various reasons, these well-intended policy initiatives have been met with severe resistance from different circles of the public; and the popularity ratings of the Chief Executive and his government remain at extremely low levels.