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Hong Kong property
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First-home buyers swoop in on Sun Hung Kai’s Wetland flats to get ahead of Hong Kong’s first mortgage hikes in four years

  • All 80 flats on offer at Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Wetland Seasons Bay project were sold on Thursday, agents said
  • The flats were offered at HK$14,344 per square foot, about 2.5 per cent cheaper than the average price of the previous phase of the project

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Property buyers queue up for the weekday sale of Wetland Seasons Bay phase three in Tin Shui Wai Sun Hung Kai Properties’ sales office in West Kowloon on Thursday. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Lam Ka-sing

Hong Kong’s homebuyers swooped in on the weekday sale of a popular property project on Thursday,, as they exploited a slim window before the city’s first increases in mortgage rates take effect.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) sold all 80 flats on offer in the third phase of its Wetland Seasons Bay project in Tin Shui Wai, agents said. As many as 23 bidders went after each available unit, with 1,870 registrations of intent received.

The flats were offered at HK$14,344 per square foot, about 2.5 per cent cheaper than the average price of the previous phase of the project, translating to HK$4.97 million (US$633,159) for a unit measuring 356 sq ft (33 square metres) after discount.

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The small offering is likely to sell out, considering the 75-basis point increase in the city’s base rate, because “it caters to users’ demand with appropriate pricing and a good location”, said Louis Chan, Asia-Pacific ­vice-chairman and CEO of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency.

A general view of SHKP’s Wetland Seasons Park (left) and Wetland Seasons Bay (right), located near the Tin Shui Wai Wet Land Park, in August 2021. Photo: Martin Chan
A general view of SHKP’s Wetland Seasons Park (left) and Wetland Seasons Bay (right), located near the Tin Shui Wai Wet Land Park, in August 2021. Photo: Martin Chan
The limited offer came on the day when five of Hong Kong’s largest banks raised their prime rates for the first time in four years, hot on the heels of the 75-basis point increase in the base rate by the local monetary authority. The higher rates kick in a day later at the earliest, with Bank of China (Hong Kong) making its loans more expensive by 12.5 basis points five days later.
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Many outstanding home mortgage loans in Hong Kong are based on the prime rate, the rate that banks charge their best customers. The payment of a typical HK$5 million, 28-year mortgage loan with a 2.75-percentage point discount to the prime rate will cost 1.6 per cent more, or by HK$323, to HK$21,029 per month after the latest rate increases, according to mReferral, a local mortgage broker.
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