HONG KONG, Oct 30 Reuters Hong Kong saw fresh records of homebuying from mainland Chinese in the first threequarters following efforts by the financial city to attract foreign professionals and remove purchase curbs, major realtor Centaline Property Agency said.

In the first nine months, 8,133 new and secondhand homes, representing 24 of total sales, were purchased by mainland Chinese buyers, according to a Centaline survey that tracks buyers39; names with Mandarin spellings. The value of the properties sold to mainland Chinese totalled HK90.6 billion 11.66 billion

Both the transaction volume and value were record highs, the realtor said on Wednesday, and increased 68 and 43, respectively, from a year ago.

Hong Kong39;s government is trying to prop up the struggling residential property market by lifting all additional stamp duties for foreign and second home buyers in February.

Earlier this month, it also relaxed the downpayment ratio to 30 for all properties, and allowed purchases of luxury homes worth more than HK50 million to be included in its investment immigration scheme.

The financial hub is still one of the world39;s most unaffordable property market even after prices tumbled nearly 30 from their 2021 peak.

The city launched a range of talent attraction measures in 2022, after the former British colony saw an exodus of residents including expatriates following antigovernment protests in 2019 and then the pandemic. Most of the population gap has since been…