HONG KONG, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said on Wednesday that Hong Kong will increase housing supply to try to cool the overheating property market.
"To ensure a healthy and stable property market in the next 10 years, on average, land needs to be made available annually for about 20,000 private residential flats," Tsang said in his annual policy speech.
Hong Kong property prices have risen by 15 percent since the start of the year, after rising by a third last year, mainly fuelled by low interest rates and purchases by wealthy mainland Chinese facing policy tightening at home. (Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee, James Pomfret and Alison Leung; Editing by Chris Lewis) (See www.reutersrealestate.com for Reuters' global service for real estate professionals)