Slowdown in office sales in Admiralty amid property cooling measures
A doubling in stamp duties in a government package to curb price rises has cooled down the commercial market, say real estate agents
Sales and prices of grade-A office space in Admiralty have fallen as a result of a doubling of stamp duties payable on the sale of non-residential properties.
"The measures taken at the end of February have definitely cooled the office market down," said Desmond Poon Chi-ming, associate director at Chartersince Surveyors.
"Immediately after the Chinese [Lunar] New Year holiday … we were recording one transaction every day. But the market turned quiet after the measures were released."
The new measures were effective from February 22 as part of a package aimed at curbing price rises in both the commercial and home markets.
According to Chartersince, there were 12 office transactions in the Lippo Centre in Admiralty in February. Since then, only four units have changed hands.
Last week a 1,100 sq ft office area in the centre was sold for HK$18.98 million, or HK$17,255 per sq ft. "In February the unit was worth at least HK$20,000 per sq ft [or about HK$22 million]. You couldn't buy any unit for less than that at the time," Poon said. A 2,087 sq ft office unit in Lippo Centre's Tower 2 sold for HK$33.81 million or HK$16,200 per sq ft in the middle of last month. That was 14.74 per cent below the vendor's previous asking price of HK$19,000 per sq ft.