Hong Kong’s weekend home sales are mixed as government’s vaccine purchase elevates mood on strict social-distancing rules
- Kaisa Group sold 39 of 53 units on offer at its Concerto development in Sham Shui Po as of 9.30pm, agents said
- Hong Kong Ferry Holdings and Empire Group sold only five of the 123 leftover units at Starfront Royale in Tuen Mun
Hong Kong’s weekend home sales were mixed as buyers snapped up fresh launch of small flats in Sham Shui Po while giving their collective cold shoulder to unsold apartments in Tuen Mun, as the government’s procurement of coronavirus vaccines helped lift sentiment in the real estate market.
Mainland Chinese developer Kaisa Group sold 39 of the first batch of 53 units on offer at its Concerto development in Sham Shui Po as of 9.30pm, with as many as six buyers bidding for every available flat, agents said. Three buyers who committed to buying failed to sign their contracts, agents said.
In Tuen Mun, Hong Kong Ferry Holdings and Empire Group sold only five units of the 123 leftover flats at Starfront Royale, according to agents. Hong Kong Ferry is owned by Henderson Land Development, one of the city’s largest property developers.
The government’s announcement yesterday that it had successfully bought coronavirus vaccines, which could be available for citizens as early as January, “has sent positive signals to the market” and will boost sentiment in the real estate market, said Louis Chan Wing-kit, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman and chief executive of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency. “More prospective buyers have showed up today after the government announced the vaccine news. Without the announcement of the vaccine, we would have seen fewer people showing up.”
Hailing the procurement deals as “groundbreaking,” the city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pledged that every resident would receive a free jab and said the government was prepared to purchase as many as 30 million shots if the vaccines required two doses to be effective.
The first batch of Kaisa’s Concerto flats were all priced under HK$6.2 million (US$800,000), attracting a lot of younger buyers under 30 which accounted for nearly half of prospective buyers, Chan said.
Prices at the first batch of Concerto flats started at HK$3.85 million, or HK$17,997 per square foot, going up to HK$6.17 million with a 15 per cent discount.
The apartments consisted of one-bedroom flats and studio units, ranging from 212 to 294 square feet.
Two one-bedroom apartments with balconies in the project were also put on tender.
“Buyers would be hard-pressed to find other new flats in the urban areas of Kowloon for between HK$3 million and HK$4 million,” said Chan.
The average price was about HK$13,000 per sq ft, with the cost of each unit ranging from HK$7.8 million to HK$33.4 million. The building at 888 Lai Chi Kok Road in West Kowloon will be completed in 2022 and is expected to have a gross floor area of 580,600 sq ft.
