Easyknit lease dodges cooling measures for Ho Man Tin flat sales
Property developer Easyknit International Holdings said it will put its property project in Ho Man Tin on sale this weekend, disregarding the government's introduction of cooling measures.
The project, which includes more than 300 flats in Victory Road, is expected to fetch HK$600 million cash at most when all units are sold, said Matthew Koon Wing-yee, the major shareholder of Easyknit. That compares with the HK$280 million total development cost of the project.
The price list of the apartments will be announced after the auction of two pieces of land in Hung Hom and Ho Man Tin are concluded tomorrow, he added.
Koon said the price would not be affected by the new cooling measures and will be set not lower than HK$10,000 per square foot.
'In the short term, home purchasing sentiment will be affected in terms of price and volume,' he said. However, home prices will rebound over the long run as the low interest rate environment will remain unchanged for at least the next one to two years.
The Easyknit project is a redevelopment under an old government lease which is not subject to the new measures.
Easyknit is to begin a redevelopment project at 311 Prince Edward Road West in October. The site, spanning 18,000 square feet, will be developed into a residential project with approximately 90,000 sqft in floor area.
Koon expects not more than HK$1.8 billion from the sale of the flats.
Koon has increased his stake in Easyknit to over 50 per cent and triggered a general offer to all the shareholders.
He said this had been done as a formality to show his commitment to the company rather than to begin a privatisation.
Shares in Easyknit rose 0.3 per cent to HK$3.30 yesterday.
Cost factor
Price lists for the flats will come after the auction of two sites tomorrow
The Ho Man Tin development by Easyknit International will contain at least this many flats: 300
