Wheelock’s Ocean Marini flat sales run out of steam in second round as Hong Kong buyers stay home amid spiking coronavirus cases

As many as 20 per cent of interested homebuyers decided to stay at home, said Centaline’s Louis Chan

Eighty two of the 102 flats on offer, or 80 per cent, at the second batch of Ocean Marini project in Tseung Kwan O were sold

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Potential buyers for the 102 flats in the second batch of Wheelock Properties’ Ocean Marini project in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O, on March 21. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 6:24pm, 21 Mar 2020Updated: 10:34pm, 21 Mar 2020

Wheelock Properties’ second batch of flat sales in Hong Kong’s Tseung Kwan O district ran into the city’s biggest daily increase in confirmed coronavirus infections, a deterioration that kept an estimated 20 per cent of registered buyers at home.

The developer sold 82 flats, or 80 per cent, of the 102 units on offer at its Ocean Marini project as of 9pm, according to sales agents, failing to repeat last weekend’s sell-out launch. Separately, two flats each at the Marini and Grand Marini projects by the same developer in the same neighbourhood found owners.

Nearly 2,300 people put down cheque deposits to register their interest to purchase, which means 22 potential buyers for every available flat, agents said. However, an estimated 20 per cent of the registrants stayed away, after the city reported 48 new cases of coronavirus yesterday in its biggest daily increase.

“There has been less of a turnout as the pandemic worsened over the past week,” said Louis Chan Wing-kit, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency. “The volatility of the US stock market has also had an impact on buyer sentiment.”

Wheelock Properties’ Ocean Marini apartment complex, covered in yellow, at the Lohas Park residential enclave in Tseung Kwan O as of February 2. Photo: Martin Chan

Wheelock had better luck last weekend, when buyers turned up in droves to snap up Hong Kong’s first residential property launch in two months, helped by generous discounts.

The flats on sale this weekend were mostly two and three-bedroom units from 472 square feet to 1,061 sq ft (98 square metres), priced between HK$6.8 million and up to HK$17 million (US$2.2 million). On a per square foot basis, this weekend’s sale averaged HK$15,679 after discounts, 1 per cent cheaper than Wheelock’s project in the same vicinity launched last August.

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