Several new home launches scheduled this week will expect healthy response, going by the thousands viewing show flats over the long weekend.
Kerry Properties raised prices above HK$10,000 psf at its Lions Rise development in Wong Tai Sin, after registering over 3,000 visitors a day during the weekend, with approximately 100 potential mainland home buyers expressing interest, according to Chu Ip-pui, Managing Director at Kerry Properties.
The first batch of units, sized between 736 sq ft to 934 sq ft, are offered at prices ranging from HK$7 million to HK$9.81 million, or an average of HK$9,998 psf.
The second batch of units, with a similar size range, is priced between HK$7.15 million and HK$10.04 million, or an average of HK$10,390 psf.
Both batches will be released in the market on Saturday.
Home owners at Wharf Holdings’ The Latitude project near San Po Kong district are asking for HK$9,500 psf to HK$9,800 psf.
Meanwhile, Sino Land was able to sell all 96 units at Maison Rose, with the final 18 flats at the Cheung Sha Wan project sold in just 30 minutes on 1 May.
The developer noted that about 95 percent of the home buyers were locals and approximately 80 percent of them were end-users. The project generated a total of HK$280 million for the 96 flats, each sized at 396 sq ft or less, with a minimum selling price of HK$6,932 psf.
But the robust demand in the primary market is failing to buoy the secondary market, which lacks momentum. According to Midland Realty, over the Labour Day weekend, 42 deals were registered at 10 benchmark housing projects, a decrease from 49 during the Easter break the previous week.
“Many owners firmly stuck to their asking price, or even lifted the asking price, after the public (Hung Hom) land auction scored a price at the high-end of market expectation,” said Sammy Po Siu-ming, Director of Midland Realty.
“Yet potential buyers seem to remain cautious on the fear of further mortgage rate hikes from banks, which dragged (down) the number of transactions this week.”
Sharp declines in transactions were witnessed at several benchmark Hong Kong Island residential projects including Kornhill, Tai Koo Shing and South Horizons.
Over the weekend, they recorded a total of eight transactions, a drop from 20 transactions last week. However, transactions in Kowloon grew from 11 to 13 while the New Territories recorded 21 transactions from 18 in the previous week.