Despite supposedly improved sentiment after last week's blockbuster land auction, developers reported dwindling home sales at the weekend, suggesting a lack of buyer conviction.
The withdrawal of sweeteners and high asking prices led to only about 100 new units being sold in the past two days, down from about 160 over the previous weekend.
The lack of interest is a shot across the bows of developers, who had expected strong demand after last week's land auction brought high prices.
Only Serenity Place in Tseung Kwan O and Sky Tower in To Kwa Wan saw sales exceed 20 units, property agents said.
Cheung Kong (Holdings) executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung attributed the tepid conditions to aggressive pricing tactics by firms, which had run ahead of buyers' expectations.
'Sales will be a lot quicker if asking prices are lower,' Mr Chiu said, adding that the high prices paid for two New Territories land sites would not necessarily feed directly to the mass market in other areas.
Warning of price volatility ahead, he said prices were equally expected to rise or fall 10 per cent in the second half of the year as many new projects would be offered for sale in the wake of land auction uncertainty being cleared.
