Another sell-out of flats‘not a surprise’ as confidence rises
New homes on offer yesterday were greeted with enthusiasm, as a stronger-than-expected growth pace in the city’s economy bolstered confidence and brought investors back into the property market.
Road King Infrastructure Limited sold all 180 of its South Land flats at Wong Chuk Hang, repeating its sell-out weekend amid enthusiasm for the first mass property project atop an MTR station in decades.
In Mong Kok, Sino Ocean sold 27 of the 45 flats on offer at its Uptify project, sales agents said.
“The sales results were not a surprise,” said Midland Realty’s residential division chief executive Sammy Po. “A high sales number was expected. Some units priced at more than HK$7 million at Uptify were unsold because buyers were taking a wait-and-see attitude.”
The strong sales response underscores how the forecastbeating performance by Hong
Kong’s economy had lifted sentiment.
The economy in the first quarter expanded 7.8 per cent, the fastest pace in 11 years, beating economists’ forecasts and ending a six-quarter losing streak.
Hong Kong’s home prices have edged upwards in recent months as a rising number of vaccinations helped city officials rein in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prices at South Land’s 180 flats started at HK$11.6 million, going up to HK$66 million, or a range of HK$27,005 to HK$54,187 per square foot.
The project’s sales started on May 2, when Road King put the first 240 flats of South Land on the market. The project sold out, with as many as 22 buyers bidding for every available unit. One family spent HK$200 million to snap up seven of the three-bedroom flats during the sale, agents said.
Across town in Mong Kok, Uptify was priced between HK$3.98 million and HK$7.34 million, or HK$19,596 to HK$25,055 per square foot. The project was favoured by first-home buyers and younger residents, who made up most of the buyers registering their bids, according to agents.
Transactions for more than 600 new units were conducted in May, and the number is likely to break through the 1,000 mark after buoyant sales this weekend.
Last weekend, more than 900 flats hit the city’s residential property market, the largest amount in seven months.
Today, Henderson Land Development will offer 196 units at The Henley, its first project in Kai Tak. Prices at The Henley are 11 per cent higher than the project on the site of the city’s former airport that went on sale in February.