Government measures to dampen Hong Kong’s overheated housing market have been slow to take effect, and prices could continue to rise, South China Morning Post reported. The Centa-City Index, a measure of housing price changes in the secondary market, hit record levels on Friday. This follows a sharp increase in the price of second-hand “home ownership scheme” apartments. The increases comes despite the introduction of numerous measures to cool prices, including the sale of 9,000 new private-sector properties and two subsidized housing schemes aimed at the middle class. In July, the government unveiled a policy to allow the purchase of 5,000 second-hand apartments at favorable prices. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has drawn criticism for the slow pace of reform during his first 100 days in office. “I’d be dishonest if I told Hong Kong the government had a quick fix … if we didn’t do what we did in the last three months, the situation would be far worse,” Leung said in an interview with the Post last week. Housing prices will stay high and may rise until the new policies take effect, industry commentators say.