Hundreds of homebuyers yesterday crowded into a sale site at Tsim Sha Tsui for a new residential project in Ma On Shan on the eve of the mainland's 'golden week' holiday.
Cheung Kong (Holdings) released the second batch of 138 flats at its Oceania residential project, as developers rushed to tap a revival in market sentiment during the holiday and prior to the chief executive's policy address later this month.
This batch was being offered at a lower than expected average price of HK$6,000 per square foot as the developer bid to drum up home sales.
A potential buyer from Beijing, identified only as Gu, said he had hoped to be able to buy a 1,000 square foot flat with a budget of HK$2 million to HK$3 million. The clothes trader and his wife said they were looking for a flat for investment and their unborn child's future. They intended to stay in Beijing after the purchase.
Another potential buyer from Shanghai, Huan, said he was looking for a 1,200 sq ft flat for a family of five. He said he was planning to migrate to the city and was not worried by the prospect of a price tag between HK$7 million and HK$9 million.
A woman from Shenzhen said she was confident she could buy a 1,000 square foot unit for HK$6 million. She said the flat would be an investment, and she felt the Hong Kong government's measures to cool the property market would not be as strong as those by mainland authorities.
Mainlanders were not the only ones looking to buy yesterday.