Ho Man Tin site sale a litmus test of market outlook after new stamp duty
Ho Man Tin plot for luxury flats is first to be auctioned since buyer’s stamp duty came in, sending deals for top-end homes down 80pc
Tenders will open next month for a luxury residential site in Ho Man Tin, estimated to be worth more than HK$10 billion.
The response is expected to be an indicator of the outlook for the property sector after the imposition of a 15 per cent extra stamp duty on non-permanent-resident and corporate buyers.
Surveyors forecast the site, which could provide flats with a gross floor area of more than 1.14 million square feet, will receive bids of between HK$10.3 billion and HK$11.4 billion, or HK$9,000 to HK$10,000 per sq ft.
Located at the junction of Sheung Lok Street and Sheung Shing Street, it is one of two sites being sold by the Lands Department on January 25. The other block of land is a commercial site in Tung Chung.
"As the first sale of 2013, it is the focus of the market's attention," said Centaline Surveyors' director James Cheung King-tat.
He put a price of HK$10.3 billion on the site, saying developers would take into account the new tax before submitting bids.
Sales of luxury homes have dropped nearly 80 per cent since the government imposed the buyer's stamp duty of 15 per cent on October 27.