Hong Kong has long attracted attention in the global property world due to the volatility1 of its real estate prices. Now, however, it has shot into the spotlight2 for another reason - property derivatives4.
2月27日，荷兰银行和新鸿基金融宣布，双方以香港住宅市场价格为基础，进行了一笔房产掉期买卖，这是亚洲首笔此类买卖。
On the 27th Feb ABN Amro bank and Sun Hung Kai Financial announced that they had traded a property swap5 based on Hong Kong's residential6 market, marking the first such transaction ever to be done in Asia.
伴随香港此笔掉期买卖的完成，银行业人士预测，将来3个月，澳大利亚或许会出现类似买卖，而将来6个月同样的状况将出目前新加坡，今年年底前，日本和韩国也将出现类似的买卖。
With the ink now dry on the Hong Kong deal, bankers are predicting that a similar deal could take place in Australia in the next three months, followed by another transaction in Singapore in the next six months, and transactions in Japan and Korea towards the end of the year.
银行业人士表示，这意味着几个月后，投资者可能仅需拨打一个电话，就能买进悉尼的一间办公室，卖出伦敦的一家零售商店，或是在香港买进一处住宅地产。
That means that in a few months' time an investor7 may potentially be able to buy an office in Sydney, sell a retail8 store in London and buy a residential property in Hong Kong by placing just one phone call, bankers say.
果真这样，这将标志着房产行业一个引人注目的转折点。一些银行业人士觉得，该行业可能非常快将成为一个让人开心的新金融革新范围，不止是在香港，也是在全球。
If so, this will mark a striking turnround for a sector9 that some bankers believe could soon be an exciting new frontier for financial innovation, not just in Hong Kong but around the world.
数年前，房产衍生品还只不过存在于理论上。但研究机构Investment Property Databank公布的数据显示，近期几个月，房产衍生品市场已开始飞速进步：在两年前市场刚刚形成的英国，迄今已达成逾300笔此类买卖，价值近50亿英镑。美国和欧洲国内也已达成了很多此类买卖，银行业人士预计，此类买卖数目将继续上升。
Until a couple of years ago, property derivatives existed only in theory. But in recent months the sector has started to grow rapidly: in the UK, which barely had a market two years ago, there have been more than 300 deals worth in total close to ￡5bn, according to figures from Investment Property Databank, the research firm. A number of transactions have been completed in the US and continental10 Europe, and bankers expect this to grow.
亚洲第一笔掉期买卖价值不到1亿港元，以全球标准衡量规模较小。然而，此笔买卖达成之际，正值现金充裕的投资者对于投资全球一些增长最快的房产范围的新方法兴趣日增之时。比如，这类新方法可以替代房产股票或房产投资信托。
The inaugural11 transaction in Asia, at less than HK$100m , is small by global standards. But it comes amid growing appetite among cash-rich investors12 for new ways to invest in some of the world's fastest growing property sectors13 - that can also be alternatives to property stocks or real estate investment trusts, for example.
荷兰银行房产衍生品主管菲利普o柳比奇表示：房产是香港最火爆的游戏之一，香港房产衍生品的增长潜力巨大。荷兰银行与新鸿基金融完成了2月27日的亚洲首笔房产掉期买卖。
Property is one of the hottest games in town and the potential for growth of property derivatives in Hong Kong is huge, says Philip Ljubic, a director of property derivatives at ABN Amro, which completed on the 27th Feb's transaction with Sun Hung Kai Financial.
香港这笔房产掉期买卖是一年期价格回报掉期。荷兰银行--此款衍生品的用户--通过获得HKU-HRPI年度变动率，得以投资香港住宅市场。HKU-HRPI是衡量香港住宅房产价格的指数。该指数是由香港大学开发的一系列指数的分项指数，一定量上特为此笔买卖而开发。
In the Hong Kong transaction, traded as a one-year price return swap, ABN Amro - the buyer of the derivative3 - gains exposure to the city's housing market by receiving the annual change in the HKU-HRPI, an index measuring the price of Hong Kong Island residential property. This index is one of the subsets of a series developed by the University of Hong Kong partly for this specific transaction.
新鸿基金融--此款衍生品的卖家--将依据之前协议，得到高于香港银行同业拆息协定基点的利差。
Sun Hung Kai Financial - the seller of the derivative - receives a previously14 agreed basis point spread over HIBOR, the local risk-free lending rate.
参与此笔买卖的人士拒绝透露这一利差的大小。
People involved in the deal declined to reveal this spread.
全香港住宅价格指数是包含HKU-HRPI在内的三个分项指数的加权平均数。该指数相对于香港银行同业拆息的利差为650个基点，约合10.5%。
The All Hong Kong Residential Price Index, a weighted average of the three sub indices including the HKU-HRPI, is offered at 650 basis points over HIBOR or roughly 10.5 per cent.
房产衍生品遭到欢迎是什么原因在于，事实上，它允许投资者在实质不拥有房产的状况下，觊觎或投机某个房产范围。 Property derivatives are popular because they, in effect, allow investors to take a view or speculate on a particular property sector without actually having to own the bricks and mortar15.
另外一个巨大优势是时间，表示，实物买卖需耗费数周时间，而一旦流动性形成，房产衍生品买卖可能只需几分钟时间。
Another big advantage is time, says Mr Ljubic. A physical transaction can take weeks while a property derivative, once liquidity16 is established, could take minutes.
新鸿基金融财富管理、资本市场和经纪业务行政总裁Joseph Tong表示：香港房产市场很活跃，大家可以飞速适应新的金融工具。大家预计，这种商品或有着巨大的增长潜力。
Joseph Tong, chief executive officer for wealth management, capital markets and brokerage at Sun Hung Kai Financial, says: Hong Kong has a very active property market and people get used to new financial instruments quickly. We expect there is going to be a sizeable growth potential for this product.
然而，将来也存在一些挑战。房产衍生品市场之所以在一些国家起步缓慢，缘由之一在于，基础数据需要十分稳健--就像英国那样。
But there are challenges ahead. One of the reasons why the market has been slow to take off in some countries is that underlying18 data needs to be of a cast-iron calibre - as is the case in the UK.
开发香港住宅价格系列指数耗时约9个月，而香港房产衍生品买卖入市则耗费了约14个月的时间。
It took about nine months to build the Hong index series while it took roughly 14 months to bring a Hong Kong property derivative transaction to market.
GFI Colliers房产衍生品主管斯蒂芬o摩尔表示，他的公司正与新加坡国立大学合作，为新加坡住宅市场开发住宅指数。本周，澳大利亚推出了住宅指数。澳大利亚商业指数预计将在将来六周推出。GFI Colliers是香港此笔掉期买卖的买卖商之间的经纪人。
Stephen Moore, ead of property derivatives at GFI Colliers, the inter-dealer broker17 for the Hong Kong transaction, says his firm is working with the National University of Singapore to create residential indices for Singapore's housing market, and this week, residential indices were launched for Australia. Commercial indices for Australia are expected in the next six weeks.
他表示：在亚太区域开发此类商品的主要问题在于，拥有开发靠谱且稳健指数所需的高透明度的国家为数极少然而，假如没（适合的指数），就不可能打造衍生品市场。
He says: The main issue with developing these products in the Asia-Pacific region, is that there are very few countries that have an adequate amount of transparency to develop credible19 and robust20 indices on which to trade...Without [a proper index], however, you cannot build a derivatives market.