HUTCHISON Whampoa will release 108 more flats at its Oasis project in Ap Lei Chau, bringing the number of units on sale to 228, in response to strong buying interest. The company said the original offer of 120 units in the latest sale had been oversubscribed eight times. It said more units would be put on the market. Registration for buyers is expected to continue today. The units are expected to be formally sold on Saturday. The units are being offered at an average of $4,432 per square foot. The price is 2.3 per cent higher than that for the 928 units that were offered for sale last weekend. More than 3,300 people applied for the previous sale. Estate agents said the selling prices of Oasis units, although marginally higher than the last sale, were still lower than secondary market rates and were expected to attract buyers. Yesterday saw an instant sell-out of 23 flats at the Greenland Court project by China Overseas Land & Investment in Hunghom. The units, measuring between 498 and 522 square feet, were offered at an average of $3,951 per square foot. A professor at the Chinese University expected residential prices to rise slightly during the rest of the year. Liu Pak-wai, chairman of the department of economics, said the growth in population and wealth would increase the demand for homes. He said Hong Kong's fundamentals were strong and the territory did not have a 'bubble' type property market as was seen in Japan a few years ago. He said prices would continue to rise but Hong Kong was unlikely to see the kind of price rises it saw in the first quarter of last year. Mr Liu said the Government's moves to cool the property market had worked and prices should be 'fairly close to stable'. 'I am not looking for a dramatic increase in prices this year, barring any political trouble,' he said.