Hong Kong home buyers snap up large flats at South Land, helping Road King pull off hat trick
- Road King sold 120 flats as of 9pm, or 70 per cent of the 168 units on offer at the South Land project in Wong Chuk Hang
- Buyers zoomed in on three-bedroom and four-bedroom units, leaving aside the smaller studio units, agents said
The developer sold 120 flats as at 9pm, or 70 per cent of the current batch of 168 units on offer, at its South Land project at the Wong Chuk Hang subway station, the first residential property development atop a public transport terminal in nearly three decades. Investors snapped up all the three-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments, leaving aside the studio units and one-room flats, agents said.
More than 2,000 people had put down money to register their interest to buy, with 13 bids vying for each available flat, putting the developer on track to clear its current batch, after a total haul of HK$9.4 billion (US$1.2 billion) from selling 433 flats over the two previous weekends.
“A lot of people have been waiting for a new property project like this, [situated] on top of an MTR subway station on Hong Kong Island,” said Midland Realty’s residential division chief executive Sammy Po. “Besides attracting many homebuyers who are eying these for their own use, the project has also attracted many investors who [see potential] for these units to appreciate in value.”
The strong sales response over the past month underscores how Hong Kong’s stronger-than-expected economic growth had lifted sentiments. The economy expanded 7.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, according to finalised data on Friday that confirmed the city’s quickest quarterly growth pace in 11 years, beating economists’ forecasts while ending a six-quarter losing streak.
Hong Kong’s home prices benefited from a rising number of vaccinations which helped local authorities keep the Covid-19 pandemic under control. New Covid-19 infections in the city have dwindled down to single digits recently, and social distancing measures have gradually been relaxed.
South Land is a joint project by Road King, Ping An Insurance and Hong Kong’s subway operator MTR Corporation.
The 160 flats on offer for open sale on Saturday were priced between HK$9.6 million and HK$39.7 million each, for flats measuring 289 square feet to 1,135 sq ft, or HK$30,610 to HK$38,698 per square foot.
“Home buyers looking to buy new property on Hong Kong island have more purchasing power, so they zoomed in on the larger units,” ignoring the smaller one-bedroom flats, Po said.
Eight larger units, including four duplex apartments, were also put on sale by tender on Saturday.
“This project is still selling well into the third round, within the first month of its launch, which [underscores] the improving market environment and the project’s unique selling point,” Po said.
“Along with a low interest rate environment and ample liquidity, the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong has been contained quite well and the economy has also seen a strong rebound. All these factors are sending positive signals to prospective buyers, [encouraging them] to enter the market.”
