Despite cooling efforts, HK land auctions fetch record-breaking prices
Despite the government's efforts to cool the property market, residential sites in Tseung Kwan O and Peng Chau have been sold for record-breaking amounts.
The results of the tender for the two sites, which closed on September 21, were announced yesterday.
Sino Land won both properties. The developer teamed up with K Wah International to outbid seven other developers for the site in Tseung Kwan O with an offer of HK$2.285 billion, or HK$4,696 per square foot.
The winning bid was within market expectations.
Although the government has imposed restrictions on the number of units that can be built on the site, the price surpassed the previous record of HK$4,628 per square foot paid by Sun Hung Kai Properties for a Tseung Kwan O site in 2010. Until yesterday, it was the most expensive site in the district.
A Sino Land spokesman said the company owned a 60 per cent stake in the site, while K Wah held the rest. The site is in a new residential area in front of the Tseung Kwan O MTR Station and covers an area of 139,019 sq ft. It could yield a gross floor area of 486,565 sq ft.
The residential site in Peng Chau was bought for HK$31 million, or HK$2,157 per square foot, which was 9 per cent above the highest market expectation of HK$28.5 million.
The previous record land price on the island was set in May when a site sold for HK$1,628 per square foot.
The 19,160 sq ft Peng Chau site could yield a gross floor area of 14,372 sq ft. The building height has been restricted to two storeys or six metres.
Centaline Surveyors' director James Cheung King-tat said: "It was expected that the residential site in Tseung Kwan O would be popular with developers as it is located on the waterfront.
"The record-breaking transaction shows developers are aggressive in acquiring waterfront sites."
In view of yesterday's sales, Cheung raised his valuations for the future Tseung Kwan O sites up for tender by 4.4 per cent.
