Hong Kong shares may rise in the shortened trading week on news of the resumption of land sales, according to brokers.
The Hang Seng Index rose 3.04 per cent on Friday, to close the week at 9,425.42 points, with sentiment buoyed on expectations that the Government would resume the sales, they said.
After the market closed on Friday, the Government confirmed it would hold a land auction on April 1, the first one since last June when such sales were suspended indefinitely.
'We need to get out of the false market we're in and find where the value of land is . . . where the likes of Li Ka-shing and Sun Hun Kai Properties expect returns to be,' said Clarion Securities property analyst Adam Osborn.
Government land sales are the most important source of supply for developers, but sales were suspended after sites were withdrawn last year following lacklustre bidding.
To lessen chances of repeat performances of failed auctions, the Government will reintroduce an application system to allow developers to suggest which sites they would like to see auctioned.
In the first auction two residential sites will go on the block - a 26,846 square-foot site at Cloud View Road, North Point, and a 45,985- sq ft site on Broadcast Drive in Kowloon.
