Bids for Hong Kong’s land tenders may come in with 20 per cent discounts, foretelling more woes for city’s real estate industry
- Estimated valuations of three plots could be cut by as much as a fifth by property developers
- Developers’ bids will be ‘indicative of the property market and economy in the future’: Centaline Surveyors
Three plots of land the Hong Kong government is going to sell through tender could attract bids that are up to 20 per cent below mid-2019 levels, which in turn could determine transaction volume and prices in the world’s most expensive property market, industry consultants said.
A residential plot in Mong Kok, the tender for which closes on Friday, a commercial plot in Kai Tak and residential land on Anderson Road in Kwun Tong, the tenders for which close next month, could see their estimated valuations cut by as much as a fifth by property developers, according to consultants Knight Frank and Centaline Surveyors.
How the land sales pan out might affect the decision-making of some homeowners, said James Cheung, a surveyor at Centaline. “Developers are major market players. Their bids will be indicative of the property market and economy in the future, ” he said.
The bids might affect transactions and market sentiment in the short term, said Thomas Lam, Knight Frank’s executive director. “When land is sold at a high price, [homeowners] might withhold listings in anticipation of higher prices in the future. If the prices are low, there will be more discounts,” he said.
