Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s sales of new private homes in the first eight months of 2009 may have exceeded those during all of last year, Centaline Property Agency Ltd. said.

The number of new non-government-built residential units changing hands may have risen to 10,926 from 9,955 for the whole of 2008, Centaline, one of the city’s biggest real estate agencies, said in a report yesterday. Last year’s figure was the lowest since 1996, the realtor said in January.

Home sales in Hong Kong, where luxury residences are Asia’s second-most expensive, are being fueled by record low mortgage rates and near-zero interest payments on bank deposits. Victor Li, deputy chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., the city’s second largest developer by market value, said Aug. 13 that the local property market is “healthy” and his company may rise prices if sales improve.

The value of new private homes sold may be HK$65.5 billion ($8.45 billion) in the first eight months, 15 percent less than the HK$77 billion for 2008, the agency said.

Total housing sales rose for the fourth month in July, Land Registry figures show. Transactions rose 62 percent to 12,023 from July 2008. The government agency hasn’t published August data and doesn’t break down deals by new or existing homes.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chia-Peck Wong in Hong Kong at cpwong@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 23, 2009 22:31 EDT