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Lacklustre housing sales in Hong Kong followed the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Photo: AP

Prices poised for further drop in secondary market amid weak sentiment

Home sales in Hong Kong's secondary market remained slow at the weekend, with some owners opting to reduce prices to attract buyers, according to property agents.

Property agent Midland Realty recorded five transactions at 10 selected housing estates during the weekend of September 19 and 20, the lowest in 28 weekend sales results.

Among the 10 housing estates, seven reported no transactions.

The lacklustre sales follows the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged.

"Buyers continue to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, speculating when the US Fed will increase interest rates," said Sammy Po, the chief executive of Midland Realty's residential department.

Some buyers opted for new flats, taking advantage of attractive financing options provided by developers.

Examples of price cutting could be seen in some mid to high-end properties.

For example, a flat owner at the Belcher's in Western Mid-Levels sold his flat for HK$24 million after cutting the asking price by HK$1 million.

The transacted price was 4 per cent below the market level, said Sunny Wong, a sales manager at Centaline Property Agency.

Alfred Lau, a property analyst at Bocom International, said owners might need to reduce prices by as much as 10 per cent given the thin secondary market volume.

"And we expect the sell-off to speed up and price cuts may widen to 20 per cent when the interest rate rise cycle begins," Lau said.

Patrick Wong, a property analyst at BNP Paribas, said developers would take advantage of the ultra-low interest rate environment to launch more projects later this year.

They include Cheung Kong Property's Yuccie Square in Yuen Long, Wheelock's Island Residence in Shau Kei Wan and Sun Hung Kai Properties' King's Hill in Sai Ying Pun.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: HK home sales slow amid weak sentiment
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