Hong Kong homebuyers give midweek property sales a miss amid unemployment, economic worries

Developers of Upper River Bank in East Kowloon manage to sell one of 123 units on sale, priced between HK$13 million and HK$28 million

Unlike first-time home seekers, buyers for higher priced flats are not in a hurry to invest, says Midland Realty’s Sammy Po

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Mainland developers Longfor Group and KWG managed to sell just one flat at the Upper River Bank in East Kowloon, on Thursday. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 7:46pm, 17 Sep 2020Updated: 10:34pm, 17 Sep 2020

Hong Kong’s avid homebuyers stayed on the sidelines for the first big sale of flats on Thursday after the government relaxed social distancing measures, reluctant to spend on big ticket items as the economy shows no signs of emerging from a recession that has stretched into four quarters.

As of 6pm, mainland developers Longfor Group and KWG Property managed to sell just one out of 123 flats at the Upper River Bank project in East Kowloon, close to the former Kai Tak airport, agents said, adding that they could possibly sell another unit before they close for the day.

This was the eighth batch of flats on sale since the project was launched in September last year, with prices ranging from HK$13 million (US$1.67 million) to HK$28 million after discounts. The developers plans to soon offer another batch of 52 units for tender. Before today, they had sold 352 of the 667 units in the development, collecting HK$5.1 billion in receipts.

“We will not see homes over HK$10 million selling fast at this moment,” said Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive of the residential division at Midland Realty.

He said that potential buyers of such homes either purchase for investment purposes or for changing homes, but they were now taking a wait-and-see approach and will only enter the market if the developers offer big discounts. “There is no demand from first-time homebuyers,” Po added.