The Government is in no hurry to resume public land sales and will wait until the local property market and the economy stabilise, according to Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) vice-chairman and managing director Raymond Kwok Ping-luen.
SHKP is the latest leading developer to contradict rival Cheung Kong (Holdings) on the land sales issue.
Cheung Kong chairman Li Ka-shing recently backed the resumption of land sales once a nine-month moratorium runs out at the end of March, saying the property market had already stabilised after a dramatic slump.
Mr Li's opinion drew criticism from the president of Real Estate Developers Association (Reda), Stanley Ho Hung-sun, who suggested the Government should extend the land sales freeze.
Analysts said SHKP's position on the land sales issue was prompted by the fact it had a sufficient land bank for future development and was not eager to replenish it with additional plots.
Mr Kwok said SHKP was in negotiations with the Government to pay more than $5 billion in land premiums for several existing developments, which could be payable next year.
Mr Kwok spoke after yesterday's handover ceremony of an office tower in Millennium City, SHKP's twin-tower development in Kwun Tong, to Standard Chartered Bank. Mr Kwok said the property market had shown some signs of improvement in the past month and pointed to an increasing volume of property transactions.
