First-ever private auction of New Territories farmland could fetch owners US$50m
The owner is conducting the auction on June 11 for 10 plots spanning 119,000 sq ft through CS Property Group
A Hong Kong family is planning to sell 10 plots of farmland in Yuen Long measuring a combined 119,000 square feet next week through a private auction, the first time such a large tract of land is available on the market through such a sale.
The auction, which could fetch a total of HK$370 million (US$47.2 million) for the parcels in the New Territories, or HK$3,100 per sq ft on average, is being closely watched by developers and agents.
The move comes at a time when the government-appointed Task Force on Land Supply has listed “tapping into private agricultural land reserves” as a short to medium-term land supply option for boosting the supply of flats.
Together with the shortfall for infrastructure and commercial uses, Hong Kong could face up to 130 million sq ft of shortfall in land supply over the next three decades, according to the government’s forecast.
But non-governmental organisations such as the Citizens Task Force on Land Resources and Liber Research Community said this number was an exaggeration and the need would be smaller.
Four of the city’s biggest developers – Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land, Wheelock Properties and CK Asset – together hold about 100 million sq ft of land, which can be changed into other use, including the construction of residential housing.