Developers rush to make up for lost time after cooling measures
Developers are rushing to release eight new residential projects this month to catch up on revenue after a five-month sales halt caused by cooling measures announced last year.
'Most developers were reluctant to launch new projects after the government imposed additional stamp duties on property sales and announced other cooling measures in November. They've missed out over the past five months,' said Louis Chan, managing director of the residential department at Centaline Property Agency.
Five projects - Kerry Properties' Lions Rise in Wong Tai Sin, Sun Hung Kai's Imperial Cullinan in Tai Kok Tsui and One Regent Place in Yuen Long, Uptown in Yuen Long by Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Emperor International's 18 Upper East in Sai Wan Ho - are in the pipeline for release this month.
Swire Properties' Azura in Mid-Levels West, Henderson Land Development's Hill Paramount in Tai Wai and Sino Land's joint-venture project The Hermitage in Tai Kok Tsui have also kicked off new marketing campaigns to promote their remaining flats.
Chu Ip-pui, executive director at Kerry, yesterday estimated the company would receive pre-sale consent for Lions Rise from the Lands Department in the next two weeks. It planned to launch the project this month. 'We will sell 50 flats in the first stage, with an asking price of HK$12,000 per square foot,' he said.
The developer promoted the 968-flat project in Shenzhen early this month, and about 20 per cent of buyers are expected to be from the mainland.