【明報專訊】THE property market is cooling down. The official housing price index has fallen for two consecutive months. Some market participants think that the property market is turning around and demand that the government ease the tough measures. Over the past ten years, property prices in Hong Kong have more than doubled. People in Hong Kong simply cannot afford to buy flats anymore. The fall in property prices in the past two to three months has not been significant. Any reckless talk about easing the tough measures at this stage will only send the public a wrong signal. Instead of easing the measures immediately when property prices fall, one should look at the original purpose of the tough measures before talking about easing them. The government should manage market expectations by being scientific and transparent about how decisions are made on when and how to ease the measures. It should also explain the specific indicators and factors that will be used to decide when is the best time to ease the measures and state clearly that the government will not be pressurised by the industry into making any decisions.