Hong Kong’s weekend homebuyers balk at Henderson’s The Holborn amid supply increase

Hong Kong is seeing robust home sales as developers launch more projects to take advantage of a boom in the world’s costliest property market

The batch up for grabs at The Holborn is priced at an average price of HK$28,888 (US$3,711) per square foot

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The under construction The Holborn development by Henderson Land in Quarry Bay. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 6:31pm, 19 Sep 2021Updated: 9:58am, 20 Sep 2021

Hong Kong homebuyers were hesitant on the second day of weekend property sales on Sunday, amid an increase in supply that had left them with more options.

Henderson Land Development had sold 60 flats – or 47 per cent – of the first 128 units on offer at The Holborn project in Quarry Bay as of 5.40pm, according to real estate agents. Sales at the Mangrove and La Marina projects a day earlier were brisk, defying banks’ jitters and helping developers to clear 94 per cent of the stock.

The batch up for grabs at The Holborn was priced at an average price of HK$28,888 (US$3,711) per square foot. The 224 sq ft to 260 sq ft flats range in price from HK$5.8 million to HK$8 million. The price was not at a discount to the market rate, which probably had not helped the sale, said Sammy Po Siu-ming, CEO of Midland Realty’s residential division.

Hong Kong has scored robust home sales in September so far, as developers launch more projects to take advantage of a boom in the world’s costliest property market. On Saturday, Kwai Hung Group’s Mangrove sold 128 out of the 130 flats on offer, while Kerry Properties sold 69 per cent of the 135 units on offer at La Marina. Last weekend, all the 212 units on offer were sold at the Wetland Seasons Bay project, while 98 per cent of the 188 flats on offer found buyers at an earlier launch of La Marina.

Hong Kong’s broader property market is largely buoyed by a promising growth outlook. Homebuyers are leveraging a continuing economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic in the city this year. Hong Kong’s economy expanded by 7.6 per cent in the second quarter following an 8 per cent expansion in the preceding three-month period, which was its fastest growth pace in more than a decade.

Homebuyers line up for Henderson Land's The Holborn development on Sunday. Photo: Dickson Lee