SHKP trims luxuries at top end of town

Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest developer, will cut the number of "super luxury" features in its new projects as cashed-up buyers retreat following the introduction of the anti-speculation tax in late October.

SHKP said it would also slow the acquisition of old properties for redevelopment, a move that could affect the supply of new flats on the market.

"Project planning [for new developments] will have to shift with the change in government policy. Previously, we had mega-size penthouses with large terraces, private pools and gardens. We will reduce these extravagant features as demand for such rare products has weakened," SHKP deputy managing director Victor Lui Ting said.

SHKP is the first developer to unveil a strategy shift since the government launched a 15 per cent buyer's stamp duty for corporate buyers and non-permanent residents on October 27. Mainland buyers accounted for nearly 40 per cent of sales of new luxury homes before the tax.

Lui said the tax had caused nearly 90 per cent of non-permanent and corporate buyers to leave the market.

The Wings phase two development in Tseung Kwan O, to be offered for sale from next week at about HK$15,000 per square foot, will be among the first with fewer luxury features.

Andy Chan, assistant general manager of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, said the three phase two penthouse units would be around 1,700 square feet with a jacuzzi. That compares with the four super deluxe penthouse units, each more than 2,600 sq ft, with a private pool featured in phase one.