The number of mainlanders acquiring homes in Hong Kong will continue to rise this year, when they are expected to account for a quarter of the money spent buying flats. Data compiled by Midland Realty shows individual mainlanders spent HKD62.3 billion on residential properties in Hong Kong last year, or about 20% of the value of all sales excluding those involving corporate buyers. That was almost double the 10.8% in 2010. The agency expects the figure to jump to about 25% this year. “The number of mainlanders coming to Hong Kong to purchase properties has been increasing in recent years, particularly new properties,” said Albert Wong, Deputy Chairman of Midland Realty. The proportion of new homes sold to mainlanders, as measured by transaction value, rose to nearly 40% last year, from 26.3% in 2010. In the secondary market, purchases by mainlanders grew by 5.1 percentage points to 12.9%. The statistics may be conservative, since only buyers with names written in pinyin are identified as mainland buyers. Wong said mainlanders preferred luxury flats and nearly a fifth of mainland buyers paid over HKD20 million for a flat in Hong Kong. Another fifth spent between HKD10 million and HKD20 million, while slightly over half purchased flats priced from HKD5 million to HKD10 million.