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Potential buyers line up for the sale of Grand Central flats on Saturday. Photo: Edmond So

Few buyers for latest batch of flats at Sino Land project Grand Central as lacklustre start to year for Hong Kong property market continues

  • Sino Land sells just 15 flats out of 161 at its Grand Central development in Kwun Tong
  • Batch sold at average discounted price of HK$21,616 per square foot, up 2.1 per cent from previous sale in December

Hong Kong home seekers remained cautious as subdued sales at Sino Land’s Grand Central development in East Kowloon on Saturday continued the slow start for the world’s most expensive housing market this year.

A total of 15 flats were sold on Saturday out of the 161 available, according to market sources. The development in Kwun Tong has a total of 1,999 flats, ranging from 333 sq ft to 1,543 sq ft.

The latest batch was sold at an average discounted price of HK$21,616 per square foot, up 2.1 per cent from the previous sale in December. The price was also 24 per cent higher than for the first batch of 488 flats put on sale in December.

Grand Central has generated revenue of HK$18.2 billion so far for Sino Land. Photo: Edmond So

“It’s within expectations. Developers know they won’t be able to sell all the units today,” said Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive of Midland Realty’s residential division, who was overlooking sales on Saturday.

Po said optimism over a possible trade deal between China and the United States had given buyers a confidence boost. However, overall sales performance in the past few months was a far cry from the peak when developers were able to sell out all their offerings.

Hong Kong housing market fails to pick up in Year of the Pig

In December, Sino Land had to cut prices at Grand Central after a lacklustre response from buyers as the housing market was showing signs of a correction.

The project, with 1,489 homes sold, has generated revenue of HK$18.2 billion so far.

Saturday’s sales were an improvement on the previous day for Sino Land, which managed to offload just four out of an available 129 units at its Mayfair by the Sea 8 project in the New Territories.

The average price per square foot on Friday was 22 per cent below that for Sun Hung Kai Properties’ development The St Martin – about a 10-minute walk away in Tai Po – which went on sale in July last year.

Last week, T-Plus, a residential project in Tuen Mun comprising micro homes smaller than a car parking space, suspended sales with immediate effect, without providing a reason for the halt.

Developers have cut prices after home prices tumbled 9.2 per cent between August and December last year, amid headwinds including rising mortgage rates, a cooling economy and uncertainties around the US-China trade war.

Home builders could also face pressure to slash ­prices as the number of completed but unsold new flats increased by the end of last year.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong property developer Chinese Estates Holdings said on Wednesday it expected a drop of as much as 78 per cent in its full-year net profit for 2018, which it put down to poor sales performance and losses on investments. The company, chaired by Lau Ming-wai, son of tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung, pinned the decline in net profit on a 70 per cent drop in property sales.

Hong Kong developer Chinese Estates says profit to tumble by up to 78pc

Nicole Wong, regional head of property research at CLSA, said she expected local property prices to remain high despite the modest uptake from homebuyers.

“The scepticism is [on] how sustainable this Hong Kong property development business would be,” Wong told Bloomberg’s Daybreak podcast on Thursday.

“With high home prices, comes high land prices.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Few buyers for Kwun Tong flats in sluggish market
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