Hong Kong's two largest developers are releasing units at their Vianni Cove project in Tin Shui Wai at 'a historic low price,' fuelling fears of a new price war. The first batch of eight units at the joint venture between Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) was priced at an average of HK$1,313 per square foot for cash payment. Agents said the price was 10 per cent below secondary market values and represented the lowest initial offer for a new residential sale since the Asian financial crisis. The lowest-priced 714 square foot two-bedroom unit in the offering is just HK$949,000. The discount pricing also puts less distance between Hong Kong and Shenzhen flat prices. Agents said average flat prices in Shenzhen ranged between HK$600 and HK$800 per square foot, while top-grade apartments fetched about HK$1,000 per square foot. Cheung Kong senior sales manager Joseph Lau Kai-man said HK$1,313 per square foot for Vianni Cove was a historic low for primary sales in Tin Shui Wai. In 1991, first-phase units at nearby Kingswood Villas - also built by Cheung Kong and the first major private housing development in the area - went for more than HK$1,700 per square foot. Internal sale began last night but Cheung Kong executives would not disclose the results. Agents believed more than 100 units had been sold at HK$1,500 to HK$1,600 per square foot. Cheung Kong executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung said: 'The first batch of units has been discounted. It is 10 per cent below our target price.' He said the market had bottomed and additional units would be priced at HK$1,700 to HK$1,800 per square foot.
