(Yicai Global) Oct. 25 -- Hong Kong's luxury real estate market is gaining momentum, with 1,371 high-end properties changing hands so far this year, already surpassing the total seen last year and marking the highest level seen since 1996, data from real estate agency Midland Realty show.

The data considers high-end properties as those selling for at least HKD30 million (USD3.84 million).

"Prices of mansions are up about 12 percent to date, outperforming the average 9-percent growth rate seen in overall property prices," said Sammy Po, chief executive at Midland Realty's residential department. "Given the short supply of luxury residences, we predict prices to rise about 15 percent in 2017 overall," he added.

The overall number of residential sales in the Hong Kong property market has fallen 12.3 percent annually so far this year to 50,210.

More than 100 properties worth over HKD100 million had been sold so far this year as of Oct. 20, with some HKD24 billion (USD3.07 billion) trading hands.

The mansion market has always boomed in Hong Kong, but its short supply underpins property prices, said Buggle Lau, chief analyst at Midland Realty.

Hong Kong is expected to produce only 620 private residential houses this year with a size of at least 1,722 square feet, data from the Hong Kong Rating and Valuation Department show. This represents just 3.6 percent of the total number of residential properties added to supply this year.