“Units priced between HK$4 million and HK$5 million still enjoy solid demand from both end-users and investors,” said Sammy Po, chief executive at residential division at Midland Realty.

Prices at the latest batch Seacoast Royale, developed by Empire Group Holdings and Hong Kong Ferry (Holdings), started at HK$3.68 million, or HK$13,806 per square foot, going up to HK$8.6 million with a 6-per cent a discount. One buyer spent HK$12.8 million on two flats at Seacoast, said Henderson’s general manager Thomas Lam, declining to identify the customer.

“With low interest rates and lots of liquidity, we expect prices to increase between 10 and 15 per cent over 2021,” said Victoria Allan, managing director and founder at Habitat Property, which was uninvolved in today’s sales. “The market will be relatively flat for the rest of the year as we go in and out of waves of Covid-19 and start to increase in early to mid 2021.”

Still, buyers were unmoved. “Buyers have already bought the cheaper one-bedroom flats during the previous sales” that began eight months ago, said Po. “Similar-sized units on higher floors are more expensive. The project is not as attractive compared with the newly launched [projects].”

Besides contending with the city’s unprecedented recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and partly by last year’s anti-government protests, investors remained wary of the impact of the National Security Law, said Allan of Habitat.

“Demand dropped slightly with the announcement of the National Security Law as people adjusted to the new law and are waiting to see how it would impact financial markets,” she said. “As the market began to get more active, an increase in Covid-19 cases hit. Both have definitely dampened sentiment although there has only been a minor impact on prices of around 5 per cent.”

With lower number of Covid-19 cases in recent days, Allan said a pick up in inquiries has been seen, particularly from buyers seeking to upgrade and expand from their current abodes.