Auctioneers call for bidders at yesterday's government land auction, where Henderson Land beat eight major developers to pay $535 million for a Tai Po luxury residential site. The price was at the high end of expectations and had a strong effect on Hong Kong stocks, helping to pull the Hang Seng Index back from a loss of 40 points in morning trade to close the day 1.1 points higher at 11,166.77. Henderson shares gained the most among the major listed property firms, ending up 1.28 per cent. New World Development added 0.5 per cent to its stock value. The second site, a 2,971 square foot residential lot in Shek O Headland, went for $17 million to the family of Sino Land chairman Robert Ng, who said he would develop a luxury house on the area. Property analysts said the bullish sale of the Tai Po site reflected developers' confidence in the market.
