Hong Kong buyers stay away as flats at subsidised De Novo development in Kai Tak go on sale
Just 19 out of 68 homes in first batch of Urban Renewal Authority project snapped up amid cooling housing market
Barely more than a quarter of eligible buyers for a subsidised flat in a Kai Tak housing project made a purchase on Tuesday amid a cooling housing market in Hong Kong
Just 19 units were sold on the first day of a four-day sale for the 338 flats of De Novo, a development by the Urban Renewal Authority.
The authority, which brought forward the selection period from May, originally scheduled 68 of the 264 eligible applicants to select flats on Tuesday.
Lawmaker Alice Mak Mei-kuen, a non-executive director of the authority, said she understood the authority originally set the selection date in May because it expected a large number of applicants and needed to set aside time to examine documents submitted by them.
“In the end, the number of applicants was less than expected and the screening by the Housing Society was smooth. So there is no need to wait till May to select flats,” she said.
The authority received 12,685 applications for subsidised flats in the De Novo project.
Midland Realty chief analyst Buggle Lau Ka-fai said De Novo flats faced competition from other private flats offered in the property market, which now shows signs of cooling.
“It’s now a buyers’ market, meaning buyers have relatively more choices, and they will look beyond just De Novo,” said Lau, who observed prices of secondary homes in the city on average dropped 5 to 6 per cent in the first quarter this year.
One eligible buyer, surnamed Kwok, said he did not make a purchase because he felt the discount was “too little”.
Sizes of the subsidised flats being offered range from 332 sq ft to 568 sq ft. Selling prices, set after a 20 per cent discount of the market value of the flats in December last year, range from HK$3.411 million to HK$6.627 million.
