HONG KONG: Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee, Hong Kong's two richest men, say holiday homes Hong Kong prices will rise this year as lending rates stabilize and wages increase.

There is "moderate upward pressure on property prices," Li, the 78-year-old chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings, said Thursday. Lee, chairman of Henderson Land Development, forecast a 10 percent rise.

Hong Kong home prices, the worst-performing in Asia last year according to the Global Property Guide, may rebound as the economy extends the longest period of growth since British rule ended in 1997. The U.S. Federal Reserve's decision last week to abandon its bias in favor of raising interest rates will also help the city, where borrowing costs typically track those in the United States because of the Hong Kong-U.S. dollar peg.

"Even during two years of rate increases property prices remained solid, proving the strength of the market," said Buggle Lau, chief analyst at Midland Holdings, Hong Kong's largest publicly traded real estate agent. "Now the Fed's signals are clearer, we may start seeing some real pickup."

Luxury residential prices rose about 8 percent last year while those for mass-market apartments were largely unchanged, according to Simon Wong, head of research at property consultant CB Richard Ellis. The company predicts luxury unit prices will increase as much as 12 percent this year, with mass-market properties gaining 10 percent.