Prices continued to fall at Hong Kong's major housing estates as new mortgage loans in October fell by about a fifth over the previous month.

Kornhill in Quarry Bay reported a deal of a three-bedroom unit for HK$6.8 million, or HK$11,409 per sq ft, after the seller cut the asking price by HK$700,000.

The latest transaction is about 14 percent lower than earlier this month, when a homeowner sold a similar flat for HK$7.88 million, or HK$13,221 per sq ft.

Meanwhile, local real estate agency said it aims to cut over 30 percent of the existing 430 shops amid the sluggish market, after closing about 20 branches since August.

Further, new mortgage loans with mortgage insurance fell 22.4 percent to HK$6.67 billion in October from the previous month, falling three months in a row, according to the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation.

And the number of new mortgage loans with insurance slid for the fifth five consecutive month, down by 6.3 percent monthly to 2,800 in October.

A mortgage broker expected the number of such mortgage loans will drop 25 percent for the whole year from a year earlier.

In the primary market, Henderson Land Development (0012) put the first batch of 23 units in Baker Circle Euston in Hung Hom for sale this Friday, with a discounted price starting from HK$4.59 million and about 10 times oversubscribed for 245 cheques as of last Sunday.

And University Heights in Mid-levels, developed by Chinachem, saw a three-bedroom flat with a car-parking space traded for HK$73 million, or HK$46,086 per sq ft.

Separately, the retender for the Artist Square Towers Project in the West Kowloon Cultural District received at least one submission before it closed yesterday with Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) confirming it had submitted a bid.

(The Standard)

West Kowloon’s commercial site draws a bid from Sun Hung Kai Properties, no news on others as deadline passes

SHKP has submitted a tender for the plot, located in an area that has been touted as the city’s premier arts hub

The latest tender included an extension of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) term to 47 years or until 2070

A commercial site being sold by West Kowloon Cultural District, which had been expected to fetch as much as HK$10.5 billion (US$1.3 billion), has received one known bid from one of Hong Kong’s biggest developers amid a tough property environment.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) has submitted a tender for the plot, located in an area that has been touted as the city’s premier arts hub. The site comprises three buildings with office, retail, dining and entertainment features in the 40-hectare district.

“Yes we have submitted a tender,” a spokeswoman for SHKP confirmed to the Post via email.

This is the second time that the 65,000 square metre (699, 654 square foot) site, dubbed the Artist Square Towers (AST) Project, has been put up for tender by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. It was originally put up for sale in February.

The latest tender included an extension of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) term to 47 years or until 2070. While the terms of sale were enhanced, they still were not in line with the standard 50-year grant given to winning bidders in other land tenders in Hong Kong.

The sale is taking place at a difficult time for Hong Kong’s property market, which is battling a triple whammy of rising interest rates, knock-on effects from the pandemic, and a slump in the city’s stock market.

The authority declined to give any information about the latest tender, with its spokeswoman saying it would “make an announcement in due course”.

SHKP had been tipped by analysts as a potential bidder for the site given that it won the commercial parcel above the West Kowloon terminus. Other developers such as Henderson Land, Link Reit, K Wah International Holdings and Chinachem Group confirmed they had not submitted a tender for the project when the deadline passed at 5pm today. No other bidders had been named as of late Monday.

“There were initially several developers and investors keen to review the project. However, recent interest rate hikes have stopped them from bidding for the project,” a surveyor said.

“Despite the authority increasing the land lease term from 34 to 47 years, the developer needs to return the building and land at the end of the tenure, which means there will be no capital investment appreciation. It is a pure yield play project and unfortunately the current high-interest environment does not make the project attractive,” the surveyor added.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong’s five biggest lenders, including the three note-issuing banks HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong), raised their key rates to the highest levels in 14 years, following US rate hikes to curb inflation in the world’s largest economy.

The higher interest rates means increased borrowing costs, hurting the ability of investors and developers to fund acquisitions.

Nevertheless, in the long term Jeong said the project has “a lot of potential with good amenities”. The project is described as a “landmark commercial development” by the authority.

The property lies close to facilities including the M+ contemporary art museum, the recently opened Hong Kong Palace Museum, the Lyric Theatre Complex currently under construction and an 11-hectare Art Park fronting Victoria Harbour.

The site is also adjacent to the commercial and residential area above Kowloon Station, which is a stop for the Tung Chung and Airport Express lines, and close to Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, which is the terminus and only station on the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

The plot was previously valued at as much as HK$10.5 billion by another surveyor.

There had been speculation that Sino Land may bid for the site, but there was no confirmation from them on Monday. Sino is part of a consortium that built the Grand Victoria residential project in Southwest Kowloon and the owner of the China Hong Kong City commercial complex in neighbouring Tsim Sha Tsui.

(South China Morning Post)

Luxury home sales in Hong Kong expected to hit a 9-year low in 2022 amid rising interest rates and pandemic effects, a property agency said

Only 1,800 new and used homes worth more than HK$20 million are expected to be sold this year, according to forecast

Analysts say the luxury property market in the city has been hit by a double whammy of US interest rate hikes and negative pandemic effects

Luxury home sales in Hong Kong have not been spared the effects of a slumping property market, with the number of transactions expected to hit a nine-year low in 2022 amid rising interest rates and a negative impact from the pandemic.

Only 1,800 new and used homes worth more than HK$20 million (US$2.55 million) are expected to be sold this year, the lowest number since 1,430 in 2013, according to a forecast by a property agency. The agency also estimated that luxury home sales will total HK$100 billion this year, the lowest since HK$96.81 billion in 2014.

“This reflects the impact of the pandemic and continued US interest rate hikes, which have hindered fund inflows,” an agent said. “Coupled with a correction of the Hong Kong property market, buyers have been cautious entering the market, resulting in significantly weaker sentiment in the luxury property market.”

The number of luxury property transactions fell 59.7 per cent in the first 10 months year on year to 1,570. New luxury homes saw a 71.6 per cent drop in the same period to 534 transactions due to limited supply.

The most notable new luxury home sale recently was news that the office of Beijing’s national security arm in Hong Kong had spent a record HK$508 million on a villa in Kowloon Tong.

The national security office bought the three-storey Villa No 1 in Mont Rouge – which measures 7,171 sq ft with five bedrooms, a rooftop, a garden and three parking spaces – from Kerry Properties last month, according to official documents.

The price tag, which works out at HK$70,841 per square foot, is the highest for a new villa in Kowloon, according to market experts.

Meanwhile, a market index compiled by the agency, fell 2 per cent to 164.91 for the week ending October 30, the lowest level since December 2017 and the biggest drop since March 2016. It fell another 0.1 per cent for the week ending November 6.

The index has lost nearly 14 per cent since its peak in early August 2021, and the agency expects it to fall a further 2.9 per cent by the end of November.

For the luxury Peak and Southern district, the agency expects home prices to slide 3 to 5 per cent in the fourth quarter alone as homeowners settle for bigger discounts.

Goldman Sachs has forecast a 30 per cent decline in overall home prices in the city over two years, while DBS expects a 5 per cent drop in 2023. Morgan Stanley, HSBC and two property agencies also predict lower prices.

With sluggish housing market turnover, and a continuous slide in home prices, the number of mortgage insurance deals has fallen across the board, a mortgage broker said.

With the Mortgage Insurance Programme providing mortgage insurance to banks, banks can provide mortgage loans to customers with higher loan-to-value ratios, without incurring additional credit risk.

But the number of new mortgage insurance loans approved in October and the total value, have both slumped for five consecutive months and reached an eight-month low in October, according to data from a mortgage brokage service provider and The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation.

“Amid the upcycle in interest rates, future mortgage interest expenses and stress tests will increase,” the broker said. “The housing mortgage market is expected to continue the slide this quarter. Annual mortgage insurance deals will drop by more than 20 per cent year-on-year.”

(South China Morning Post)

甲廈上月空置率10.2% 近1年新高

10月份寫字樓市場活躍度持續下滑。布代理行發表商廈市場報告指出，上月商廈售價略為回軟，指標甲廈售價按月挫1%，乙廈價格按月則跌0.7%。不過，甲廈租金及乙廈租金分別按月反彈0.7%及0.3%。

該報告指出，今年下半年 (即7至10月份)，50大甲廈買賣成交僅錄14宗，按年跌65%。

上月全月50大甲廈買賣只有3宗，數字徘徊於今年甲廈成交量的低位。同時，整體甲廈空置率連續4個月上升，最新達10.2%，亦為近一年以來新高。

根據政府初步數字，今年第三季本地生產總值按年實質下跌4.5%，營商環境及投資市場負面情緒蔓延，寫字樓成交陷入低谷，月內欠缺大額成交。10月部分矚目成交以細面積及低呎價為主，集中於柴灣、北角及尖沙咀東，成交金額約為1億元以下，主要為分層寫字樓成交，反映投資者及企業態度保守審慎。

灣仔租金按月升5.8%

該行代理表示，雖然近期加息及經濟環境不明朗，令商廈投資需求受壓，但整體租務市場較買賣市場更為暢旺。該行於10月份錄得406宗寫字樓租務成交，按月增加4.6%。在整體甲廈租金方面，其中灣仔區的表現較為突出，按月升5.8%。

該代理指，市場上亦有不少大型租務成交，如瑞銀預租西九高鐵站項目9層樓面，涉總樓面面積約25萬平方呎，並同時續租中環國際金融中心二期共14萬平方呎樓面，市場預料月租約1,820萬元。反映市場憧憬通關在即，金融機構積極部署在港擴充。

該行預計，商廈市場表現仍視乎宏觀經濟情況及本地防疫政策。若在短期內未有重大利好消息，商廈市場表現維持疲弱，但若政府進一步落實「0+0」檢疫措施，甚至全面通關，商廈的投資及租賃需求將會上升。

(經濟日報)

更多國際金融中心寫字樓出租樓盤資訊請參閱：國際金融中心寫字樓出租

更多中環區甲級寫字樓出租樓盤資訊請參閱：中環區甲級寫字樓出租

投資者減價吸客 工商舖大手買賣增

個別投資者近日積極沽貨，叫價上亦有一定折讓，吸引財團捧場，令近日大手工商舖買賣稍增。

近期市況稍波動，個別投資者放售物業，其中羅守輝為近期市場上最積極沽貨的投資者之一。消息稱，旺角登打士街43號登打士廣場錄成交，涉及物業1至3樓全層，面積合共約9,072平方呎，以約1.2億元成交，呎價約1.3萬元。旺角登打士街為傳統飲食地段，而該廈亦屬銀座式商廈，租戶主要為餐廳。據悉，項目每月租金收入約54萬元，回報率逾5厘，相當可觀。

該舖原由投資者羅守輝持有，事實上，過去一星期他連環沽貨，舖位方面，他以約9,800萬元，沽出紅磡馬頭圍道巨舖，面積合共23,489平方呎，由護老院租用。另北角和富道96至106號地下1號舖及閣樓，物業地下面積約2,366平方呎，閣樓面積約2,157平方呎，合共約4,523平方呎，舖位以約5,300萬元易手。舖位現由火鍋店以每月16萬元租用，回報率約3.6厘。

旺角凱途發展大廈 兩層蝕310萬

羅守輝持於2017年以5,180萬元購入舖位，其後以約6,280萬元放售，現減價約16%沽貨。羅氏持貨5年沽貨，帳面獲利約120萬元，升幅僅約2.3%，惟扣除使費，僅平手離場。

商廈方面，他亦以約5,146萬元，沽出旺角凱途發展大廈兩層乙廈樓面，每層面積各約3,100平方呎，持貨5年帳面虧損310萬元。連同是次北角舖位，一周內已沽3物業，套現約3億元。

至於資本策略近日亦沽貨，涉及啓發徑8號城點基座，物業地庫、地下及1樓，面積約1.7萬平方呎，舖位以約4.5億元成交，呎價約2.6萬元。

舖位現時租客包括銀行、餐廳及便利店等民生商戶，每月租金收入約140萬元，回報率約3.7厘。該物業原由資本策略持有，早年投得地皮，發展住宅項目，舖位部分一直保留作收租之用。據了解，早年資本策略曾放售物業，現因應市況降價放售物業。事實上，今年舖位成交焦點，多在民生區商舖基座，如土瓜灣馬頭圍道209號海悅豪庭基座商場「海悅廣場」，獲本地財團以4.25億元承接。

AVA 622地舖 4000萬售減800萬

至於中細價舖位，亦錄多宗減價沽貨，如佐敦迷你單幢住宅項目AVA 622地下1號舖，建築面積約1,439平方呎，原以4,800萬元放售，終以4,000萬元成交，呎價約2.78萬元。該舖由點心店以每月11.5萬元租用，租金回報率約3.5厘。

分析指，由於仍處加息周期，工商舖投資氣氛直接受衝擊，個別持重貨的投資者希望減磅，故願降價放售物業，因個別減幅較大，吸引其他財團承接。由於後市仍存不明朗因素，相信個別業主放售物業時，仍願作出較降大降幅，料減價成交個案持續。

(經濟日報)