Hong Kong property sales reached HK$403.7 billion in the first six months of 2018, while the market also registered a hike in the price of lived-in homes for a 26th consecutive month, the South China Morning Post reported, citing Midland Realty data.

The record number of asset sales in the city during a first half of a year was achieved in 1997 with deals valued at HK$483.58 billion, the paper highlighted.

From January to June, average price of new homes totaled HK$14.8 million, according to Ricacorp Properties data cited by the SCMP, which noted it to be the highest half-yearly figure since it started keeping records in 1996.

Looking into the second half of 2018, Ricacorp's head of research, Derek Chan, said the agency anticipates the sale of about 10,000 new private homes. In the month of June alone, the number of deals amounted to 9,252 worth HK$80.8 billion, according to the July 4 report.