The survey findings were released by the Liberal Party at the Legislative Council on Wednesday, after a total of 1,026 private property owners were surveyed between Oct. 9 and Oct. 29 randomly over the telephone.

The findings also show that more than 70 percent of the respondents believe that stabilizing property prices would be conducive to the quicker recovery of Hong Kong's economy.

The survey was conducted after HKSAR Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa revealed last month the HKSAR government's resolve to stabilize property prices, saying that various proposals were being considered to this end.

A total of 43 percent of the respondents said that relaxing the current 70 percent mortgage loan ceiling and lowering the stamp duty are the most effective way of preventing further fall of property prices by stimulating demand.

Also, 19 percent said that the government should consider suspending the sale of public housing flats and Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats.

Legislative Councilor in charge of the survey James Tien said, "The survey findings reveal that most of the surveyed citizens are very much concerned about the stability of the property market. They hope that the government can finalize measures to this end as soon as it can.

"Also, as there are around 1.5 million property owners in Hong Kong, stabilizing the property market can help stimulate consumption demand, which in turn, will contribute to the quicker recovery of the economy as a whole," he said.

Tien said the findings will be presented to the HKSAR government Wednesday.

Last month, HKSAR Financial Secretary Antony Leung told international investors that property prices in Hong Kong had fallen to a more reasonable level and the government was pondering measures to stabilize the prices.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2002)