Henderson, New World sell homes fast
HONG KONG: Henderson Land Development Co and New World Development Co sold most of the apartments they released for sale yesterday even as some hopeful buyers turned cautious amid protests that have paralysed parts of Hong Kong.
The developers sold close to 200 of the first 220 flats yesterday at their joint project Double Cove Starview Prime, sales records show.
There were 101 purchases within the first hour, said Thomas Lam, Henderson’s sales general manager. New World sold 129 of the first 132 units at its Pavilia Hill project yesterday, according to official records compiled by the government.
While brisk sales at the developers’ project debuts this year have propped up their cash holdings and stock prices, pro- democracy demonstrations in the city that started Sept. 26 may rock the confidence of potential home buyers if the unrest persists. Real estate agencies reported a decline in the number of people looking at homes, and Midland Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong’s largest publicly traded realtor, saw viewing appointments for the weekend drop to a 25-week low.
“The housing projects that attract more investor buyers may be more affected”bytheprotests,Henderson’s Lam said yesterday at the site of the Double Cove sale. “The proportion of end-users here is very high. From the looks of it, there doesn’t seem to be a big impact” at Double Cove.
Double Cove is a 1,092-unit project located in the suburban district of Ma On Shan. Pavilia Hill is on Hong Kong Island, one subway stop from Causeway Bay, the shopping district that’s home to the most expensive retail strip in the world and - recently - one of the three major sites blockaded by protesters.
Hong Kong is facing its worst political crisis since China reclaimed sovereignty in 1997 as hundreds of thousands of people have gathered on the streets and blocked traffic with makeshift barriers of fences and garbage bins. The demonstrators, led by a handful of students and professors, are demanding China retract a decision in August to screen candidates for Hong Kong’s leadership election in 2017.
“A lot of clients are taking a waitand-see approach,” said a real estate agent surnamed Cheung, who declined to give her full name as she’s not authorised to speak to the media. “Some are thinking that prices will be cheaper if they wait until later.”
One of Cheung’s five clients who registered to pick a Double Cove flat canceled due to uncertainty caused by the protests, she said at the site of the sale. Another client was still undecided, she said.
Midland said 65% of its clients who registered showed up for the Double Cove sale while 10% were estimated to be absent due to the protests, according to a company statement yesterday.
More than 70% of the approximately 500 new homes on sale citywide were sold as real demand is still strong, Centaline Property Agency Ltd said yesterday. — Bloomberg