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SCMP Reporter

Aggressive pricing by Sino Land and rising interest rates are forcing some cautious home seekers to look elsewhere for better value

Braving a climbing interest rate environment, Sino Land is pricing Mount Beacon - its latest low-density project in Kowloon Tong - on par with luxury projects on Hong Kong Island.

Real estate agents said the project's sales were relatively slow compared with luxury projects launched earlier, such as The Legend.

The aggressive pricing has discouraged some flat seekers who expect Kowloon properties to be valued at more traditional levels and are more cautious about buying because of recent rate rises.

The project, comprising five low-rise towers and 22 houses,  at 20 Cornwall Road,  is a 10-minute walk from shopping mall Festival Walk at Kowloon Tong MTR station.

Since the project was launched this month, more than 100 of the 197 units, ranging from 1,133 to 1,950 sqft,  were sold at an average price range of $11,100 to $16,800 per sq ft,   according to Sino Land.

Twenty-two town houses  of about 3,700 sqft to 4,500 sqft  are available.

Each house has a parking space beneath the garden level.

According to the developer, three houses sold for $17,100 to $17,500 per sqft.

'The price is in line with comparable properties on Hong Kong Island,' said the director of an agency.

'A lot of buyers who have been living on Hong Kong Island were discouraged by the price.'

In May, a duplex apartment of 3,964 sqft in the recently refurbished 56 Repulse Bay Road - which has a view of Repulse Bay - sold for $57 million, or about $14,380 per sqft,  according to a real estate agent in Repulse Bay.

Property agents said a budget of $60 million also opened up the choice of single-lot houses in Kowloon Tong, which were going for $12,000 to $13,000 per sqft.

Real estate agents said unit prices in Mount Beacon were about 20 per cent to 30 per cent higher than similar units in the nearby One Beacon Hill project.

Developed by Cheung Kong (Holdings), units in One Beacon Hill were going for an average of about $10,000 to $11,000 per sqft  in the secondary market, according to Ricacorp Properties

'Only one new unit is left in One Beacon Hill. Investors who eye a medium-term return will prefer Mount Beacon as the transaction period is as long as one year,' said Willy Liu Wai-keung, executive director of Ricacorp Properties.

Patrick Chow Moon-kit, head of research at Ricacorp Properties, said the launch of Mount Beacon had frozen secondary transactions in One Beacon Hill.

No secondary transactions had been brokered in the estate since the beginning of this month. There are normally about 10 transactions each month.

'Six transactions in One Beacon Hill were brokered in June.

A 1,984 sqft unit on a medium-high storey sold for about $20 million [or an average price of about $10,000 per sqft],' he said.

A 1,378 sqft unit in the project, with about 600 sqft of garden space, sold for $18 million  last month.

The management fees for the two projects vary considerably. One Beacon Hill, for instance, charges a monthly management fee of $1.55 per sqft, while Mount Beacon charges $2.4 per sqft for apartments and $2.8 per sq ft for houses.

Sino Land is keen to market the project as offering a resort lifestyle. At the heart of the project is an 80-metre irregular-shaped swimming pool, poolside tents and a glass-walled banquet hall.

The developer teamed up with Manhattan Realty and Chinese Estates Holdings to pay $570 million  in 2002 for the 1.47-hectare luxury lot in Kowloon Tong.

The project is expected to reap about $5 billion if all houses and units are sold.



Kowloon's Beacon on offer at Island prices