ANALYSTS said last night they expected the successful sale of a Sha Tin site at yesterday's Government land auction would lend support to the depressed property market and provide an optimistic note for residential lots going under the hammer in coming weeks.
Earmarked for luxury residential development, the site was bought by privately-run Hang Tung Resources for $171 million after about 20 minutes of bidding.
It was the first time Hang Tung had bought land at a public auction and its director Ivis Sze described the price as reasonable.
An office site in Fanling was withdrawn from sale after failing to attract a bid, while an industrial site in Ap Lei Chau was sold at its opening price of $230 million.
Government land agent Tim Mills, who conducted the auction, said the successful Sha Tin sale showed there was still life in the residential market.
However, he said the Government had between 14 and 16 other sites for auction before the current land sales programme ended on March 31, and he expected mixed results.
He said there were some mediocre sites among the batch, but he was generally optimistic the residential sites would sell.
