Hong Kong property: Henderson Land’s Belgravia Place residential project in Cheung Sha Wan a hit with buyers
- All 138 units available in the first round of sale were bought by 3.30pm, within four hours of the launch
- The sale attracted 4,400 expressions of interest, or more than 30 buyers for each available unit
Hundreds of prospective homebuyers rushed to seize units at Henderson Land Development’s new project on Sunday, the first major residential sale after the government removed all property curbs in the budget.
All 138 units available in the first round of sale in Belgravia Place, in Cheung Sha Wan, were bought by 3.30pm, within four hours of the launch, according to the developer.
Hundreds of prospective buyers arrived at the sales office at Mira Place in Tsim Sha Tsui before the doors were thrown open at 10am, as they jostled for a chance to snap up flats.
The project attracted 4,400 expressions of interest from clients who paid a deposit in the hope of securing a flat, amounting to more than 30 buyers for each available flat, Henderson said.
Among them was a buyer who snapped up four units for a total of HK$25.8 million (US$3.3 million).
The 138 units included studios to three-bedroom flats with area ranges from 199 sq ft to 457 sq ft. The prices ranged from HK$3.2 million to HK$7.5 million after discounts, or HK$14,838 to HK$17,359 per square foot.
Belgravia Place has a total of some 1,000 units, which will be developed in two phases, with the first phase providing 714 units.
Many buyers from the mainland were spotted at the sales office.
Tang, an insurance agent who only gave his last name, was one of the potential buyers. He decided to buy a flat in the project after receiving his permanent Hong Kong identity card last year.
Tang said he was considering buying a one-bedroom flat on the secondary market because “there weren’t many choices in the first-hand market due to my limited budget of HK$4 million”.
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“But since the government scrapped all the property cooling measures, many sellers have raised their asking prices,” he said. “That’s why I have turned to new homes that fit my budget.”
Since the removal of the property curbs in the budget plan, the market has been revitalised, especially the first-hand segment, Louis Chan Wing-kit, CEO of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency.
There were about 220 first-hand sales, from studio flats to luxury flats, in the past four days, amounting to nearly 80 per cent of the primary transactions in the whole of February, according to data from Centaline.
The secondary market saw 12 transactions during the weekend, according to Hong Kong Properties, double the previous weekend and the most in eight weeks.
In his budget plan last week, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po scrapped the decade-old property market curbs in a drastic bid to revive the ailing sector. Home prices in February fell for the ninth straight month, dragging the official home price index down to a seven-year low.
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The measures withdrawn include Buyer’s Stamp Duty that targeted non-permanent residents and a New Residential Stamp Duty for second-time purchasers. Also, homeowners will no longer be required to pay a Special Stamp Duty if they sell within two years.
Following the resounding success of the first batch of sales, Henderson said the second round of sales at Belgravia Place could be launched as early as Thursday.
“The scrapping of all cooling measures has sped up the pace of buyers entering the market as they believe the worst of the property market has passed,” said Thomas Lam Tat-man, general manager of sales department at Henderson, adding that there were a large number of mainlanders and non-permanent Hong Kong residents among the buyers.
With regards to the buyer profile, Lam said 80 per cent were in the 31 to 45 age group, and had accounted for most of the one-bedroom units.
“Some of the buyers had come to Hong Kong via the talent schemes and were currently renting flats,” he added.
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Other developers have also been quick to cash in on the improving sentiment.
Centralcon Properties found buyers for 75 of the 93 flats put up for sale at The Arles, near Fo Tan MTR station in the eastern New Territories on Sunday. The project first went on sale in 2021.
The removal of the property curbs has led to a sharp rise in the number of inquiries and property viewings, according to the Hong Kong developer, adding that the company had responded to the improving sentiment and demand by offering units at discounts.
The cheapest unit was a 228 sq ft studio priced at HK$3.9 million after discounts, or HK$17,276 per square foot.
One buyer bought three two-bedroom flats at The Arles for HK$27.8 million, according to Centaline, the brokerage for the deal.
