Sun Hung Kai wraps up biggest weekend launch with a sell-out in Yuen Long as vacancy tax bites
The developer pulled in a combined HK$2.8 billion (US$357 million) after selling all 328 flats in Yuen Long, with 7,300 bids received
Hong Kong’s biggest sale of residential real estate after housing policies were unveiled on June 29 got off to a good start this weekend in Yuen Long, as a vacancy tax pried loose a trove of apartment units to ease the city’s pent-up demand for homes.
More than 7,300 buyers submitted bids for 328 units of Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Park Yoho Milano project, or an average of 21 bids for every available unit, agents said.
The developer pulled in a combined HK$2.8 billion (US$357 million) after selling all 328 flats, as a crowd of thousands thronged the sales venue in a 500-metre queue that extended from the International Commerce Centre to the Western Harbour Crossing.
“Buyers showed overwhelming response in the afternoon,” said Louis Chan, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman and chief executive for residential sales at Centaline Property Agency. “The crowded scene is a rare sight in recent years.”
Mr Cheung, an office manager in his twenties, said he was disappointed that other buyers had snapped up all the smallest single-bedroom and twin-bedroom flats, with prices ranging from HK$5 million to HK$7 million.
“Prices are reasonable so I wanted to buy a flat for my own use and lease the one I am living in,” said Cheung.
The successful sale vindicates the tax announced on June 29 by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, a programme designed to compel developers to release their inventory of completed flats for sale to ease the pent-up demand in the world’s most expensive real estate market.