Buyers snap up ‘bargain’ Blue Coast flats
Discounts hold key in one of city’s biggest residential launches for 2024
CK Asset’s Blue Coast project in Wong Chuk Hang, one of Hong Kong’s biggest residential launches this year, was snapped up by eager homebuyers rushing to take advantage of attractive discounts after the easing of the city’s property curbs.
The developer sold 413 units, or 98 per cent of the 422 flats put up for sale yesterday when proceedings ended at about 10pm, according to sales agents.
Some 5,000 buyers and agents flocked into the developers’ sales office in Metropolis Drive in Hung Hom to await the results of a lottery to determine their eligible flats, the developer said. About 28,000 expressions of interest were received, or 65 bids for each available flat, locking up an estimated HK$2.8 billion in deposits to qualify for the lottery.
The first batch of Blue Coast is priced at HK$22,955 per square foot on average, about 10 per cent lower than the development cost of HK$24,955, and cheaper than comparable flats in the neighbourhood, according to an estimate by CGS International.
The units for sale are priced at “bottom fishing prices”, said CK Asset’s executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung, adding that the developer would raise prices of the units in later batches.
“Hong Kong’s property market, just like Hong Kong’s economy, is gradually recovering,” Chiu said, adding that there was a “70 per cent chance” that housing prices would rise this year, and the entire Blue Coast project was likely to record a “slight profit”.
The launch of Blue Coast marks the biggest residential offering since the city government removed property curbs and relaxed its mortgage policies in February. The previous major launches, including Henderson Land’s Belgravia Place in Cheung Sha Wan and New World Development’s Uptown East in Kowloon Bay, were all snapped up by the market.
The units put up for sale yesterday included 80 two-bedroom flats and 342 three-bedroom flats, ranging from 452 sq ft to 1,006 sq ft. Their prices ranged from HK$8.78 million to HK$26.5 million, or between HK$18,998 and HK$27,257 per square foot after discounts. The whole batch is valued at HK$8.8 billion.
“We’re quite positive about the outlook now. There’s not much room for housing price to fall from this level,” said Raymond Cheng, managing director and head of China and Hong Kong property at CGS International. The property price was likely to rise three to five per cent this year, he said.
Among yesterday’s buyers, 60 per cent were buying for their own use, while 40 per cent were investors, according to an estimate by Sammy Po Siu-ming, CEO of Midland’s residential division for Hong Kong and Macau. The project’s location on Hong Kong Island above an MTR station also made it attractive to buyers from the mainland, who accounted for about 40 per cent, he added.
A mainland couple surnamed Wu, who have been living in Hong Kong for seven years, were among the buyers. The removal of the housing curbs just a little over one month ago was the impetus for them to consider purchasing their first home. “It saves us about 30 per cent on stamp duty tax, and the price for this phase is significantly cheaper than previous ones,” said the couple, who work in the education sector and as a dentist. Rising rental costs in the city were also a factor, they added.
Blue Coast is one of six phases in the Southside development in Southern district. Part of phase three, Blue Coast is developed in collaboration with MTR Corp. It is set to be one of the biggest |residential launches of 2024.