Brisk sales recorded for second batch of Monaco Marine homes at Kai Tak
The second batch of flats to go on sale at Wheelock Properties’ latest residential project at the former Kai Tak airport got off to a brisk start, with buyers snapping up about a quarter of the 112 units within an hour of the launch.
Wheelock said it sold 30 units at Monaco Marine, netting HK$400 million soon after sales opened at 6.30pm yesterday. The flats had received 3,600 applications from prospective buyers, local media reported.
The sales “reflect keen market demand for high-quality units in Kai Tak”, a Wheelock spokesman said.
The average price of the flats was HK$26,630 per square foot, an increase of 7 per cent from the launch price of HK$24,844 per square foot last Saturday. The units on offer ranged from 326 sq ft to 616 sq ft, costing between HK$8.6 million and HK$17.6 million each.
“As the pandemic is brought under control gradually, Hongkongers will continue to snap up new units if the developers do not set prices too high,” said Martin Wong, director of research and consultancy for Greater China at Knight Frank. “There has been unmet demand during the fifth wave of the pandemic.”
Last Saturday, Wheelock sold more than three quarters of the 308 flats on offer in the inaugural batch, the first major sales launch in the city since late January, receiving nearly 13 bids for every available flat.
These Monaco Marine flats were priced about 12 per cent lower than another project in the same neighbourhood that went on sale last summer.
The recovery in market optimism came amid Hong Kong’s first week of easing its most stringent Covid-19 social-distancing measures since the pandemic began two years ago.
“I think the market will slowly recover and then have a stronger recovery once quarantines are lifted,” said Victoria Allan, founder and managing director of property agency Habitat Property, adding sentiment was starting to improve.
She said developers would be more aggressive in launching other projects when the government further eased travel restrictions, allowing for more normal business operations in the city.
As pandemic restrictions ease, Hong Kong developers are set to sell more homes in the coming days.
More than 800 flats from four projects in Kowloon and the New Territories will be made available in the coming two weeks, according to data compiled from impending property launches.
Sales of new homes are likely to hit 1,200 units this month, according to Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties.
If so, it will be the busiest month since December when 1,493 sales were recorded, according to Land Registry data. They could reach a 10-month high of 2,000 in May, Chan said.