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Hong Kong home sales climb to highest level since 1997

Developers have had a busy time these past two days, with homebuyers, including many from the mainland, snapping up more than 1,000 units at three new projects as the 'golden week' holiday kicked in.

The number of registered property transactions in the city reached 105,925 with a total value of HK$43.58 billion for the nine months to September 29, according to Ricacorp Properties. The agency said both sales volume and value were the highest since 1997.

Cheung Kong (Holdings) said it had sold 890 units at Oceanaire in Ma On Shan since it opened for sale on Thursday. It has pulled in a total of HK$6 billion so far.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) and Chinachem Group generated strong buyer response for their luxury residential projects in Sheung Shui and Kowloon City, partly driven by mainland investors. While SHKP declined to disclose the sales volume for The Valais, people familiar with the figures said about 67 units were sold yesterday, each costing between HK$20 million and HK$30 million.

The developer released the first batch of 28 units at HK$8,388 per square foot. The sizes range from 2,600 to 4,500 sq ft.

'One of our clients from Shenzhen has purchased one for around HK$20 million, to be used for holiday visits to Hong Kong,' said Sammy Po Siu-ming, New Territories director for Midland Realty.

Chinachem sales manager Ng Shung-mo said it had sold 80 units at Billionaire Royale in Kowloon City as of 4pm yesterday.

'About 30 per cent of the buyers are from the mainland, with some purchases made under the migrant investment scheme,' he said.

Under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, overseas investors can obtain residency in Hong Kong by making a capital investment in certain permissible assets, including property. The minimum investment is HK$6.5 million.

Ng said the units had been sold for HK$8 million to HK$14.4 million since sales started at 11am.

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