Well-being guide boosts positivity

The Housing Bureau and Housing Authority implemented a resident-oriented "Well-being design" guide, which will serve as a reference for the future design of new public housing estates and the improvement works of existing estates.

Friendly neighbourhood: The guide proposes to fully utilise main lobbies of public housing estates to encourage social interaction among residents. Source from news.gov.hk

The “Well-being design” guide consists of eight booklets that cover well-being concepts, namely "Health & Vitality", "Green Living & Sustainability", "Age-Friendliness", "Intergenerational & Inclusive Living", "Family & Community Connection", "Urban Integration", "Upward Mobility" and "Perception & Image".

Enhancing happiness

Housing Department Assistant Director (Project) Max Wong explained that while they were compiling the guide, the department had already begun introducing such concepts at ongoing public housing developments.

“For example, in Hin Fat Estate, which has just been completed recently andis located near the Dragon Kiln, which was previously a famous pottery and ceramic workshop. With this historical and cultural background, we incorporate this design element in our estate design.

“Another example is Yip Wong Estate, also in Tuen Mun. It is located alongside the Tuen Mun River and with this special context, we have placed our bicycle parking spaces near the cycling track so that residents can conveniently take their bikes to the cycling track and enjoy cycling along the river.”

Pleasure-inducing scenery: Housing Department Maintenance Surveyor (Project) Sylvia Mok says the department adopted butterflies as the theme of the improvement project carried out in Butterfly Estate in Tuen Mun to embody the "Perception & Image" concept in the guide. Source from news.gov.hk

Diverse concepts

The "Well-being design" guide also integrates the Housing Authority’s successful building and management experience from the past 50 years.

It enables Housing Department staff across various professional streams to apply such elements when designing public housing.

Additionally, the team conducted research in 26 housing estates and collected first-hand opinions from over 3,000 residents to ensure useful and practical suggestions are contained in the guide.

Shining example: This newly renovated canopy at Butterfly Estate features different attractions and natural scenery in Tuen Mun. Source from news.gov.hk

Age-friendly communities

Taking the entrance lobby as an example, besides enhancing the natural ventilation and lighting, the guide proposed to provide leaning benches for residents to rest on.

Also, hand rails and hanging hooks can be installed next to mailboxes so that residents are able to free their hands while collecting their letters.

Tried-and-tested method: Housing Department Assistant Director (Project) Max Wong says the department has already begun introducing the well-being design concepts at ongoing public housing developments. Source from news.gov.hk

Heart-warming designs

The Housing Department also dedicated time and regular resources to carry out facade beautification and minor improvement projects at 10 housing estates, as well as to complete landscaping improvement works for 20 housing estates.

For example, in Butterfly Estate, the improvement project has adopted the "Perception & Image" concept in the guide.

The idea of using a butterfly as the design theme was fully adopted.

Well-being strategy: The department carries out facade beautification and minor improvement projects at different public housing estates. Source from news.gov.hk

Environmental wellness

Housing Department Maintenance Surveyor (Project) Sylvia Mok pointed out that they bring in the arts to the communities as a way to encourage residents to come out of their homes and visit the neighbourhood.

“We have murals on the external walls. You can see we shared the view of a butterfly theme.

“Also for those unpleasant pipe works and the rodent control guards, we tactfully change them to look like tree trunks and tree houses.”

Another fine example of such improvement works at Butterfly Estate is a newly renovated canopy at the amphitheatre. On its interior roof is a painting which features a bird’s-eye view of different attractions and natural scenery in Tuen Mun when butterflies are fluttering over the district.

The department hopes the painting can encourage the residents to better understand their communities.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in September to the weakest annual pace in nearly 14 years even as mortgage rates eased and the supply of properties on the market continued to climb.

Existing home sales fell 1% last month, from August, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That marks the second straight monthly decline and the slowest annual sales pace since October 2010 when the housing market was still in a deep slump following the late-2000s real estate crash.

Sales fell 3.5% compared with September last year. On a regional basis, sales fell in the Northeast, South and Midwest last month from a year earlier, but rose in the West.

Overall, the latest home sales were short of the 3.9 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

"The factors that would drive higher home sales —- such as mortgage rates meaningfully lower now compared to one year ago, inventory beginning to increase and, of course, jobs continuously being added to the economy —- and yet home sales are stuck at low levels,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.

Despite the slower sales pace, home prices increased on an annual basis for the 15th consecutive month. The national median sales price rose 3% from a year earlier, to $404,500.

While the rate of price growth has been slowing, the latest median sales price is 49% higher than it was five years ago, before the pandemic. By comparison, wages grew 25% in the same period, Yun noted.

Years of soaring home prices have helped put homeownership out of reach of many Americans, making housing a key political issue for voters in next month's election.

The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Existing home sales sank to a nearly 30-year low last year as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage surged to a 23-year high of nearly 8%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates mostly eased since July in anticipation of last month's move by the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years and to signal further cuts through 2026. While the central bank doesn’t set mortgage rates, its policy pivot cleared a path for mortgage rates to generally go lower.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell to 6.08% four weeks ago — its lowest level in two years — but has edged higher since then, reaching 6.44% last week.

“Falling mortgage rates in July and August were expected to bring more buyers into the market, but some home shoppers may be holding out for rates to fall further,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS. “Others may be taking a wait-and-see approach in the lead up to the presidential election.”

Economists generally expect mortgage rates to remain near their current levels, at least this year. Fannie Mae projects the rate on a 30-year mortgage will average 6.2% in the October-December quarter and decline to an average of 5.7% in the same quarter next year.

As sales have slowed, the inventory of homes for sale has kept ticking higher. There were 1.39 million unsold homes at the end of September, up 1.5% from August and 23% from September last year, NAR said.

That translates to a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 3.4-month pace at the end of September last year. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Another factor helping lift the inventory of homes on the market: Properties are taking longer to sell than a year ago.

Homes typically stayed on the market for 28 days last month before they were sold, up from 21 days a year earlier.

“Even with the recent increase in inventory one can say that’s helping loosen up the market, but it’s still far short of what would be considered a more normal inventory level,” Yun said.

Still, in a plus for home shoppers, fewer homes are receiving multiple offers. Some 20% of the homes that sold last month were bought for more than their original list price, down from 26% in September last year.

First-time homebuyers who don’t have any home equity to put toward their down payment continue to have a tough time getting into the housing market. They accounted for just 26% of all homes sold last month, matching the all-time low from August. It was down from 27% in September last year. They’ve accounted for 40% of sales historically.

Homebuyers who can afford to sidestep mortgage rates and pay all cash for a home accounted for 30% of sales last month, up from 29% a year earlier.

A sale sign stands outside a home on the market Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in the east Washington Park neighborhood of Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)