The government may pocket more than HK$3 billion from today's auction of a Tseung Kwan O residential site.
But this outcome hinges on whether developers choose to keep their powder dry to tender for the construction of a luxury residential site above the Austin MTR station later this week, a market watcher says.
The Austin MTR tender will close on Wednesday and the total investment cost anticipated for the project is about HK$20 billion.
Surveyors estimated the site near Tseung Kwan O MTR station could sell for between HK$2.6 billion and HK$3.4 billion, or about HK$3,570 to HK$4,669 per square foot, depending on how aggressively developers bid for the project.
Among the big bidders who have declared an interest are Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's biggest property company by market value; New World Development, Kerry Properties and K Wah International.
However, Chan Cheong-kit, a director at Lanbase Surveyors, says developers may not be aggressive in their bidding and keep funds to tender for the luxury residential site above the Austin MTR station.
'The Austin project is more attractive to developers,' Chan said. He predicted that the Tseung Kwan O site would be knocked down for HK$2.7 billion to HK$2.9 billion.