The Hong Kong Housing Society is relaunching its housing project Serenity Place, in Tseung Kwan O, on the back of escalating house prices after a year of suspended sales as a result of the Sars outbreak.
The project has become the market's latest focus in the light of overwhelming interest in the quasi-government body's previous private property sales.
However, agents did not expect as strong a response to the project as seen in other Housing Society developments because there is no below-market pricing strategy this time to lure buyers. A Housing Society spokesperson said Serenity Place was likely to be put on sale next month but pricing had still to be finalised. She said 1,485 units remained unsold after sales were suspended last year.
Serenity Place is one of three subsidised housing projects turned to private development by the Housing Society, which builds both government-assisted flats and private developments for sale. The other two are Mountain Shore in Ma On Shan and Cayman Rise in Kennedy Town.
Serenity Place, a 1,562-unit development close to Po Lam station, was released for sale in March last year. A week later, the Housing Society decided to suspend sales because Sars-wary homebuyers were giving it a wide berth.
Agents expected units to be offered at close to the current transaction price of $3,000 per square foot. The estimated relaunch price will be about 36 per cent higher than the previous average of $2,200 per square foot early last year.
To entice buyers, the Housing Society adopted a low-pricing strategy by offering the first batch of units at below-market levels. It received a strong sales response.