First Read: Hong Kong Property

Research evidence excerpt

First Read: Hong Kong Property

Global Research

2 July 2026ab

First Read

EquitiesHong Kong Property

Luxury outperformed staples in May retail sales Hong Kong

Real Estate

Mark Leung

May retail sales up 7.9% YoY, in-line with UBSe Analyst

The Hong Kong government released May retail sales data today. Overall retail sales mark.leung@ubs.com

increased 7.9% YoY to HK$33.8bn, compared with +8.7% YoY in April, broadly in line +852-2971 8636

with our expectation for high-single-digit growth. Key drivers included accelerating John Lam, CFA

luxury goods sales (up 26% YoY), thanks to RMB appreciation in May, while growth in Analyst

electrical goods moderated from April. Excluding consumer electronics (up 13% YoY in john-za.lam@ubs.com

May) and motor vehicles and parts (up 2% YoY in May), May retail sales growth would +852-2971 6358

have accelerated to 7.7% YoY, compared with +6% YoY in April, implying a marginal Ben Ho

improvement in underlying demand. Associate Analyst

ben.ho@ubs.com

Luxury sales volume up 10.5% YoY, maintaining momentum despite fading +852-3712 2819

price effect Vera Gong, CFA

By segment, luxury goods sales growth accelerated to 26% YoY in May, compared with Analyst

vera.gong@ubs.com

+21% YoY in April. Encouragingly, after adjusting for price effects, luxury goods sales

+852-2971 8950

volume increased 10.5% YoY versus +7.1% YoY in April, indicating sustained

underlying demand momentum in the luxury segment. On the staples side, food and

beverage sales remained flat in May. Supermarket sales growth slowed to 1% YoY from

3% YoY in April. Online retail sales growth moderated slightly to 32% YoY in May,

versus +33% YoY in April. As headline retail sales growth also softened, online

penetration remained stable sequentially at 10%.