Yesterdays SCMP had quite a few of the Merchant banks forecasting drops of around 25% in property values by the end of next year, it's a very cyclical market and totally different to that which the average westerner is use to. It is common here to buy and sell 3 or 4 times in one year while most purchase residential and commercial and sit on it without tenants praying that they will catch the market and flick it as the market peaks. .Basically the locals treat it like another form of gambling, I'm in a house where, of the 4 previous owners, 2 went bankrupt and two doubled their money. Naturally in HKG everyone only talks about the winners in the market. Back in 96-2000 plenty of Dragon and CX bought approx 800 sq/ft apartments (all one could afford) got hit badly by a 50% fall in property values, couldn't move out because rent wouldn't cover the mortgage, couldn't sell because the 2-4 million hit would put them into bankrupcy and automatic loss of job, couldn't leave Hong Kong because money earned elsewhere wouldn't cover the shortfall.
Go back 20 years to the 15% interest rates, people were forced to quit their jobs because the house purchase had given them a mortgage they couldn't sustain.
If you're in it for the long haul then buy within your means and have a go at reading the market, within reason, at the time you want to purchase. It would be nice if it was more like Aust or the Uk (last couple of years aside) and over a 10 year period it showed relatively stable growth, but it isn't. There is still a massive speculator involvement in the market and that pushes the peaks higher and the troughs lower.