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Peggy Sito

The housing market received a boost yesterday after Sino Land sold 200 flats at its Park Summit development in Tai Kok Tsui in only 21/2 hours on the first day of sales, while the prices for secondary homes have risen more than 5 per cent over the past two months.
However, analysts said the outlook remained uncertain, given the expectations that chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying will increase home supply to make property more affordable.
Sino Land sales and leasing general manager Victor Tin Sio-un said another 100 flats at Park Summit would be launched at an average price of HK$10,000 per sq ft, 5.5 per cent higher than the previous batch's average price of HK$9,484 per sq ft. 
'The price increase reflects the better quality of the new units because they're on upper floors,' said Tin, who attributed yesterday's fast sales to a pricing strategy which was close to secondary prices in the area.
Midland Realty executive director Vincent Chan Kwan-hing agreed. 
For example, at the nearby Lime Stardom, 15 flats at the one-year-old project changed hands this month for between HK$7,000 per sq ft and HK$10,000 per sq ft.
'Real demand remains strong. If prices of new units are close to secondary home prices, buyers are happy to open their wallets,' Chan said. 
Agents said first-time buyers tended to be attracted to small units because they are cheaper, and more than 70 per cent of the 464 flats were below 500 sq ft. 
'Around 80 per cent of buyers are end-users, and many are first-time buyers,' said Tin.
Separately, property agent Midland Realty said yesterday that average transaction prices at 100 housing estates had risen 5.4 per cent over the past two months. 
A separate survey by Centaline Property Agency found that home prices at 50 housing estates had risen more than 8 per cent over the past eight weeks. 
However, Chan said the price rise was not sustainable. 'Given that we expect an increase in supply, prices are unlikely to grow sharply,' he said, predicting a choppy market, with prices fluctuating within a 10 per cent range this year.
Property consultant Cushman & Wakefield said the outlook for housing remained uncertain, given the change of government on July 1 and reticence by investors. It predicted that residential prices and transactions would be flat. 
The investors expected prices of small and medium-sized flats to fall by 10 per cent to 15 per cent, while the cost of a luxury home would decline by 5 per cent to 10 per cent.



Buyers' demand for Park Summit buoys market