Hong Kong’s homebuyers defy 11 days of triple-digit coronavirus cases to snap up Henderson’s Seacoast Royale flats in Tuen Mun
- Henderson Land Development sold all of the 185 units offered at its Seacoast Royale project in Tuen Mun as at 7:30pm, agents said
- As many as 8,563 registrations of intent were received, which means an average of 46 people put down deposits to qualify to bid for each of the flats on offer
Henderson Land Development sold all 185 units offered at its Seacoast Royale project in Tuen Mun as at 7:30pm, agents said. As many as 8,563 registrations of intent were received, which means an average of 46 people put down deposits to qualify to bid for each of the flats on offer.
“Flats of such pricing are popular among buyers,” said Sammy Po, chief executive at residential division at Midland Realty. “They kept submitting registrations of intent, despite the third wave of virus infections. They still came out to [view and bid for] the flats today.”
The average price of the 185 flats on offer today at Seacoast Royale is HK$13,638 per sq ft, or 27 per cent cheaper than Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Regency Bay in the same neighbourhood, which sold just 35 of 55 flats on offer on Friday.
One buyer forked out HK$22.74 million for four flats at Seacoast Royale, said Henderson’s sales general manager Thomas Lam.
Buyers are flocking to snap up new flats because of the low interest rates prevailing in Hong Kong, and the depreciation of money amid the global quantitative easing by central banks, Po said.
“The project is also cheap relative to nearby projects,” said Po. “Buyers are afraid that home price would still climb after the pandemic. So they would buy when it is cheap now.”
The pace of new projects being launched may slow in the coming months, as the third wave of coronavirus outbreaks in the city deters people from holding mass gatherings, Po said. Fewer than 1,000 new homes may be sold in August, agents said.
The project’s low starting price and mortgages of high loan-to-value ratio encouraged buyers, said Louis Chan, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman and chief executive at residential division at Centaline Property Agency.
This project is “even better than Home Ownership Scheme ones” so buyers were rather enthusiastic, said Chan.