SHKP raises prices at Grand Yoho by HK$1.6m as buying picks up

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), the largest developer in Hong Kong by market capitalisation, has raised prices for some units at its Grand Yoho project by more than HK$1.6 million after home buying fever returned last weekend.

In its revised price list, prices for 24 units at the development in Yuen Long have increased by as much as 19 per cent, according to a government website tracking sales of first-hand residential sales.

For instance, a 774 square foot unit on the 11th floor of Block 9 has gone up by HK$1.66 million to HK$12.19 million, from HK$10.53 million three weeks ago.

The developer will offer the third batch of 224 units for sale this Saturday with a 1,700 square foot flat on the 50th floor priced at HK$44 million, or HK$26,400 per sq ft. At the same time, Hong Kong Ferry raised prices for its small flat project Harbour Park in Sham Shui Po by 12 per cent. The increase in prices came after buyers snapped up more than 1,100 new units across Hong Kong at the weekend, the strongest sales volume of the past three years.

According to the Lands Department, 2,595 units in seven projects secured pre-sale consent in August, the highest single monthly figure in the past five months. For the first eight months of the year, 11,378 units had been given the green light to go on sale, it said.

Meanwhile, Kristine Li, granddaughter of real estate tycoon Lee Shau-kee and deputy general manager of Henderson Leasing Agency, has launched a project to create the first space in Hong Kong designed specifically for commercial galleries.

The 24-storey development, called H Queen’s, is set for completion in mid-2017, and aims to be an iconic composite space featuring galleries, retailers and dining options - something Li says does not yet exist in Hong Kong.

“We hope that H Queen’s will become the new landmark for arts and lifestyle,” Li said.

H Queen’s has leased out 50 per cent of its space to seven global art businesses, including its anchor tenant David Zwirner, an international contemporary art gallery. Other galleries will include Pace, Pearl Lam Galleries, Seoul Auction, Tang Contemporary Art Gallery and Whitestone Gallery, who represent artists such as Ai Weiwei, Michaël Borremans, and Chun Kwang Young. Le Comptoir, a group which offers art-centric restaurants, will also be in the building.

H Queen’s, designed by William Lim from Hong Kong-based CL3 Architects, will look like a glass “jewellery box” in the middle of Central, with its galleries visible from the outside. This allows H Queen’s “to see and to be seen,” Li said.