Sales of flats double in February
RESIDENTIAL flat sales more than doubled in February thanks to pent-up buying demand, and developers' offering to cut prices and to provide extra mortgage financing.
A total 8,739 sale and purchase agreements, mainly of flats, were registered last month, with a value of $17.35 billion, according to the Registrar-General.
The number of agreements shot up 105.6 per cent from January's ''exceptionally low level'' according to the Land Office. Compared with February last year, however, the number of agreements was just 5.3 per cent higher.
In January, the home buying market was much quieter as Chinese traditionally refrain from making purchases in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year.
The Sino-British dispute on Hongkong's political reform was also blamed as a further dampener. Only 4,250 sale and purchase agreements were registered in January, down by about 57 per cent over the same month last year.
Last month, developers put a number of residential projects up for sale, including Kingswood Villas of Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Hanford Garden of Hang Lung Development.
With developers offering to cut prices, analysts said many genuine home buyers came forward to buy and were particularly encouraged by the preferential payment methods offered by developers.
In a bid to boost sales, developers have also offered to provide buyers with up to 90 per cent of mortgage financing, significantly reducing the down-payment amount.
Local banks are sticking to the 70 per cent mortgage lending limit as laid down in government guidelines.
According to government figures, there were five building mortgages and 10,509 other mortgages registered in February, compared to six and 10,164, respectively, in February 1992.
The total amount secured under new mortgages rose by 21.1 per cent to $7 billion in February from $5.78 billion in the same month a year ago.
However, the total amount actually drawn down on building and other mortgages at any particular time may be significantly less than the total amount secured.
Repayments under mortgages of all kinds, as evidenced by discharges and mortgagees' receipts, increased by 0.2 per cent to $2.8 billion in February from $2.79 billion a year ago.
