HONG KONG - Hong Kong's home prices were largely unchanged for a second consecutive month in June on lower mortgage rates, government data showed on Tuesday, signaling stabilization after recent steep declines.

Private home prices edged up 0.03 percent in June from the month before, following a revised 0.03 percent rise in May, data from the Rating and Valuation Department showed. In April, home prices climbed a revised 0.5 percent, ending four months of decline.

Prices have dropped 0.9 percent this year to their lowest since 2016.

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Home prices in Hong Kong have tumbled nearly 30 percent from a 2021 peak. Authorities tried to prop up the sector last year, lifting all curbs on property purchases and relaxing down payment ratios, but housing demand has remained soft.

The one-month Hong Kong dollar interbank rate HIBOR, which many mortgage plans are linked to, dropped below 1.2 percent since May from more than 3.5 percent in the past two years, making mortgage rates more affordable for home buyers.

Realtors forecast home prices in 2025 could rise or fall by 5 percent, depending on the pace of official rate cuts and the severity of trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

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Brokerages including Morgan Stanley and HSBC recently said they expected the Hong Kong residential market to bottom out.

But realtor JLL, which sees a 5 percent drop in mass residential prices this year, said it does not expect a sustainable recovery until 2026, when inventory could drop to a healthy level.