Developers swoop on three luxury residential plots with aggressive bids

Fierce bidding for three luxury residential sites at yesterday's land auction suggests government efforts to cool the overheated property sector are failing to make an impact.

Sun Hung Kai Properties outbid four others to win the former Lingnan College site on Stubbs Road, the most anticipated land lot in the auction, for HK$4.49 billion or HK$24,829 per buildable square foot. It represents the third most expensive residential site auctioned in the city in terms of price per square foot.

Victor Lui Ting, executive director at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, said the firm planned to invest HK$8 billion on a low-density residential project on the site.

Bidding for the two other sites was hotter than expected. The Ngau Tam Mei land parcel in Yuen Long was won by Cheung Kong (Holdings) after 81 offers from 12 bidders. The winning HK$662 million bid, equivalent to HK$6,548 per sq ft, was significantly higher than most market forecasts, which ranged from HK$410 million to HK$525 million, although one firm forecast HK$700 million.

'It's a valuable site and has great potential,' said Grace Woo Chia-ching, an executive director at Cheung Kong. 'It's very rare to have a site where you can have a really low density development with houses that have their own gardens.'

The developer is planning to build more than 60 detached houses, with a construction cost of about HK$4,000 to HK$5,000 per sq ft.

China Overseas Land and Investment won the site on 62 Begonia Road at Yau Yat Chuen in Kowloon Tong for HK$579 million after a battle between five bidders submitting a total of 89 bids. The price of HK$15,742 per buildable sq ft was the third highest selling price per square foot in Kowloon. Most surveyors had not expected the site to fetch more than HK$15,090 per sq ft. 'We are looking for a selling price of HK$26,000 [per sq ft for the completed flats] in future so ... the land value of about HK$15,000 per sq ft is very reasonable,' said China Overseas Property Agency's director Tony Yau.