Sun Hung Kai Properties sees steady prices even as analysts forecast falls
Deputy managing director Victor Lui Ting's prediction contrast with analysts, who forecast prices to fall by up to 30pc by the end of 2015
The deputy managing director of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Victor Lui Ting, said he expected homes prices to be steady this year even as analysts made gloomy forecasts and developers dropped their asking prices.
"My forecast is that home prices will be stable this year," he said last month as reporters visited the company's soon-to-launched Riva residential project in Yuen Long.
"Analysts who say otherwise may be unaware that rising construction costs and a shortage of labour will fuel increases in development costs, and with such high costs, developers are unlikely to cut prices significantly."
Analysts say the prices of new flats may fall sharply this year due to increased supply and the possibility that developers will cut prices to clear inventory.
CLSA predicted home prices could drop by 10 per cent this year. Barclays said they could fall by up to 30 per cent by the end of 2015.
Lui said developers were unlikely to cut prices because of rising construction and marketing costs. He said production of the sales brochure for the Riva project required a nearly seven-fold increase in manpower because of the requirements of the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance that came into effect at the end of April.