Hong Kong developers launch Easter projects as larger flat sales slow

Hong Kong developers are aggressively pushing project launches on the four-day Easter break but sales momentum for larger units is showing signs of slowing.

Seven residential projects, comprising more than 170 units in all, are up for sale either during or shortly after the Easter holiday.

New World Development was the first developer to kick off holiday sales, offering yesterday the second batch of 60 units at the 98-unit The Woodside in Hung Shui Kiu, Yuen Long. The sale started at 11am, and by 5pm about 40 units, or more than 60 per cent of the flats on offer, had been sold, sources said.

Most of the unsold flats were the bigger units selling for HK$5.5 million to HK$6 million, they said.

"One- or two-bedroom units in most new projects fly off the shelves thanks to the solid demand from first-time buyers. But upgraders will take longer to make up their minds," said Kelvin Cheong, sales director for the northwest New Territories at Midland Realty, adding most of the buyers yesterday were end-users who live in Yuen Long.

The 60 units, with sizes ranging from 375 sq ft to 976 sq ft, are going for HK$7,909 to HK$12,506 per square foot in terms of saleable area, or HK$3.63 million to HK$11.98 million. Buyers are offered a discount of up to 16 per cent. A total of about 70 flats have been sold since The Woodside launched last Saturday.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) will today start selling the second batch, of 50 units, at Mount One in Fanling. Prices have been marked up 2 per cent after 44 units in the first batch were sold on Tuesday.

SHKP offered a discount of more than 22 per cent for buyers meeting certain conditions and also provided a one-year bridging loan equivalent to up to 70 per cent of a flat's value.

Cheong said there is no direct competition although both The Woodside and Mount One are located in the northwestern part of the New Territories. "The two projects are targeting different groups of buyers," he said.

The 50 flats at Mount One on offer, ranging from 696 to 1,624 sq ft, are priced between HK$6.88 million and HK$19.77 million.

Other projects that are currently selling on the market include Chathan Gate, jointly developed by SHKP and Shun Tak in Hung Hom; Chinachem's Le Billionaire in Kowloon City; Cheung Kong's Diva in Tin Hau and Henderson Land's project at 39 Conduit Road in Mid-Levels.

Hang Lung Development also plans to offer 19 units at The Long Beach in West Kowloon tomorrow.

Upcoming projects soon to hit the market include Henderson Land Development's Harbour Pinnacle in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Development's MacPherson Residence in Mong Kok and Far East Consortium's Eivissa Crest in Sai Ying Pun.