Lions Rise flats to sell for less than expected
Kerry Properties is going to sell the first batch of flats at its latest Wong Tai Sin residential project at slightly lower than expected prices, averaging no more than HK$10,000 per square foot.
'The prices gave us and the buyers a surprise, especially after last week's land auction fetched high transaction prices. We were expecting between HK$10,000 and HK$12,000 per square foot,' Louis Ng Chap-keung, a director at Ricacorp Properties, said. 'The developer wants to draw market attention.'
Kerry yesterday released a price list of 60 two-bedroom and three-bedroom units of its Lions Rise project, with an average price of HK$9,998 per square foot.
With gross floor areas of between 736 sqft and 934 sqft, the price tags of the 60 units range from slightly above HK$7 million to nearly HK$9.81 million, or between HK$9,516 and HK$10,553 per square foot. Cash buyers can receive a 5 per cent discount.
Kerry executive director Chu Ip-pui (pictured), who said in February that the asking prices should be at least HK$10,000 per square foot, said the prices for the first batch were 'very attractive'. The developer will release the flats for sale as early as Friday.
Both Ng and Ron Ho Hoi-kwong, a sales manager at Midland Realty, believe the flats will be snapped up quickly because of the prices, and many clients have asked about them.
'Many people are interested in it ... and mostly, about 60 per cent to 70 per cent are end-users,' Ho said. At least 700 groups of potential buyers went to see the show flats during the weekend, he said.
He also said the prices were attractive and there was no other new development in the area. He said the newest mass-residential project was Galaxia, which was completed about 13 years ago and has been selling recently in the range of more than HK$7,000 to over HK$9,000 per square foot.
Situated in Muk Lun Street, Wong Tai Sin, Lions Rise is a five-block residential project with 968 units. About 60 per cent of the flats have three or four bedrooms and range from 680 sqft to 1,470 sqft.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, and the flats will be handed over to buyers from the third quarter of next year.
Kerry Properties is part of the Kerry Group, controlling shareholder of the SCMP Group, which publishes the South China Morning Post.
Market surprise
The first batch of Lions Rise flats will average no more than this much per square foot, in Hong Kong dollars: $10,000
