Hong Kong homebuyers, enticed by big discounts, snap up all flats on offer at Great Eagle’s Onmantin project
- All 260 flats on offer were sold on Saturday after the project received 7,500 orders from prospective buyers
- Mainland Chinese homebuyers were also active during the weekend sale, according to Midland Realty
All 260 flats on offer were sold by 9pm, according to agents. The project recorded 7,500 orders from prospective buyers, or 28 times more than the initial number of flats on offer.
“The project received a warm market response with the high oversubscription rate,” said Sammy Po Siu-ming, CEO of Midland Realty’s residential division for Hong Kong and Macau. “Mainland buyers have also actively joined this recent home-buying spree.”
Po estimated that about three out of 10 Midland clients who registered to purchase flats at Onmantin come from mainland China.
The robust sales can be attributed to an improvement in sentiment following the government’s removal of all property curbs on February 28. Additionally, the developers’ discounted price strategy is attracting buyers from both Hong Kong and the mainland.
According to data published by Centaline Property Agency on Sunday, there were 3,065 transactions in the primary market between April 1 and 24. This represents a significant 106 per cent surge compared with the whole month of March. It is important to note that the April figure reflects the strong sales in March, considering the time lag for registration.
Furthermore, the total value of first-hand flats sold in the first 24 days of April reached HK$40 billion (US$5.1 billion), marking a substantial 191 per cent increase compared with the HK$13.71 billion recorded for the entire month of March, Centaline said.
The Onmantin flats on offer were priced from HK$17,750 to HK$25,866 per square foot. The cheapest unit, measuring 388 sq ft, had a price tag of HK$6.89 million.
About 70 per cent of Onmantin’s customers would buy units for their own use, while the remaining 30 per cent would purchase for investment purposes, according to Louis Chan Wing-kit, CEO of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency.
Chan said he expected the first batch of homes to sell out.
Great Eagle’s Onmantin project, comprising 900 flats in five 24-storey towers, sits above the Ho Man Tin railway station in Kowloon. It is expected to be completed in two phases of 418 and 572 units, respectively.
The developer earlier this week said it was confident about the prospects of the first batch of flats on offer, given that it is made up of the last new units in the location.
Homebuyers have recorded more than 1,000 first-hand deals so far this month, according to Centaline’s Chan. Transactions involving flats valued at HK$10 million or above made up nearly 70 per cent of the volume, suggesting mid-priced and luxury properties are luring buyers again.
Sales of new and secondary homes in surged 67 per cent in March to 3,971 units, compared to February, reaching the highest level since May last year, according to data from the Land Registry. Those amounted to a total of HK$30.06 billion in value, the highest level since June last year.
