Private home prices fall 0.5 percent in June
Hong Kong's property prices have fallen for a second consecutive month in June.  The Rating and Valuation Department said on Thursday that home prices were down by more than 0.5 percent last month from May, and that they fell by almost 8.6 percent year-on-year.  Prices for small and medium-sized units were 0.5 percent lower than they were in May, and larger homes were 0.7 percent cheaper.  But for the first half of this year, private home prices rose by about 4.3 percent.  Private rents, meanwhile, rose by nearly 0.6 percent.