More people in Hong Kong are optimistic about the housing market on the Chinese mainland, according to a recent survey by GoHome.com.hk, an online real estate portal.

Over 30 percent of respondents said they believe homes on the mainland are worthwhile investments, 12 percent higher than the first half of this year.

The survey also found that 61 percent already own real estate there.

In addition, more people are confident about the performance of Hong Kong's property market for the rest of this year, with 36 percent saying they believe home prices here would rise, an increase of 22 percent in the first half of the year.

Nearly 60 percent said they might buy a home in Hong Kong in the coming months, compared to about 47 percent at the start of 2016. The number of people who were pessimistic about the home markets fell to 42 percent, a sharp decrease of 35 percent compared to the first half.

Terence Tai-Leung Chong, assistant professor of economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, expected home prices in Hong Kong to remain stable after a decline of 15 percent since the end of last year. Prices could stop falling and the market may rise during the rest of this year, Chong said.

Among 70 mainland cities monitored, new home prices in more than 10 saw increases of over 10 percent year-on-year in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Some insiders said home prices in the biggest cities such as Beijing and Shanghai would continue to rise this year due to the lack of inventory and relatively loose monetary policies.

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