Hong Kong buyers shun new flats at Wheelock’s Park Seasons project as home sales slow in May

Wheelock Properties sold 27 of 154 units on offer at Park Seasons in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O, as of 8pm on Saturday

Hong Kong is set to record a month-to-month decline of 46 per cent and 31 per cent in new home and live-in home transactions

Home purchases in Hong Kong are slowing down after an initial spate of enthusiasm sparked by the government’s rollback of cooling measures nearly three months ago, with buyers taking only 17 per cent of new flats offered by Wheelock Properties in Tseung Kwan O on Saturday.

As of 8pm, 27 of 154 units on offer at Park Seasons in Lohas Park were sold.

The slow sales were “expected” as “many other units of the project had been sold in the previous launch”, a property agent said.

Wheelock priced the latest batch between HK$4.5 million and HK$7.8 million after discounts. The average price of the units, which start at 283 square feet, rose marginally from the previous batch by 0.5 per cent to HK$15,122 per sq ft.

The developer sold 126, or about three quarters, of the 168 flats on offer last month at Park Seasons on the first day of sale. The flats comprised one to two-bedroom units between 322 and 496 sq ft, priced from HK$4.54 million to HK$7.7 million.

Wheelock said it expected sales to be slower this time. A spokesman noted that the project has “sold many units over the past few weeks”.

“We just wanted to supply additional flats for potential homebuyers and give them more options in the coming days,” the agent said.

The lukewarm response comes as buying interest in Hong Kong’s residential property shows signs of abating.

A total of 1,340 new homes and 2,322 lived-in units had been sold this month up to Wednesday, according to data from another property agency.

Given the trend, the city is likely to record 1,900 transactions of new homes and 3,000 involving second-hand homes, representing a decline of 46.4 per cent and 31.7 per cent, respectively, from April, according to another agent.

Despite the moderating demand, “the performances of both first-hand and second-hand markets are still better than before the cooling measures were removed”, the agent added.

In his budget speech on February 28, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced the lifting of all curbs originally put in place to cool an overheated market.

Mortgage financing was eased too, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority allowing homes valued at less than HK$30 million to be eligible for 70 per cent mortgage financing, compared with the previous cap of 60 per cent for flats valued between HK$15 million and HK$30 million.

Last month, Hong Kong’s property transactions came close to a three-year high, with 9,880 units changing hands, according to official data. It marked the second consecutive month of increase in property deals in the city.

The April sales – the highest since July 2021 when 9,957 units including car parks, shops, industrial and office units were sold – were roughly double the number in March, which marked the first full month of a restriction-free property market.

The total value of property sales in April surged by 125 per cent to HK$83.9 billion from HK$37.4 billion the previous month.

Although “the overall market is still dominated by local buyers for the time being”, buyers from mainland China are pushing demand higher, Chan said.

“The number of mainland buyers has indeed increased significantly after the measures were lifted, generally accounting for about 30 per cent,” he said. “What cannot be ignored is that the number of mainland buyers is still increasing.”

Chan expects that Hong Kong’s residential market will continue to move “in a positive direction, while property prices will depend on the overall performance of the economy and the possibility of interest rate cuts in the second half of the year”.

(South China Morning Post)

中環中心 63樓全層 7.3億獲洽購

世茂許榮茂持有 呎價約2.8萬較高峰跌4成

夥同多位投資者聯手購入中環中心的世茂集團 (00813) 主席許榮茂，消息指，其持有的高層單位獲7.3億元洽購至尾聲，呎價僅2.8萬元，相較高峰期呎價跌逾4成。

由已故小巴大王馬亞木、許榮茂、「殼后」朱太朱李月華等一眾投資者，在2017年向長實 (01113) 購入中環中心全幢商廈75%業權，其中許榮茂持有9層樓面，高峰期市值近百億元。

據指內地友好投資者承接

據市場消息指出，其中持有的中環中心 63樓全層，剛以7.3億元獲洽購，以面積26,234平方呎計算，平均呎價約2.8萬元，跟去年底由「磁帶大王」陳秉志持有的67樓全層成交呎價相若，但相較2018年高峰期，由投資者「物流張」張順宜沽出49樓、50樓全層，平均呎價約5萬元，則相隔6年時間，呎價大跌逾4成。

消息指，是次將採用俗稱「賣殼」的公司轉讓形式交易，而買家據指為許榮茂內地友好投資者。若果以當年一眾投資者以402億元購入中環中心，整體平均呎價約3.3萬元計算，保守估計上述高層63樓成交價，至少需蝕讓2成。

去年底14億放售兩層樓面

至於在沽出上述63樓樓層後，許榮茂仍持有中環中心 8層樓面，在去年底則有指許氏以14億元放售其中低層兩層樓面。而屬於中環中心大業主之一的馬亞木家族，據指早前則租出51樓一個面積約4,430平方呎單位，月租接近28萬元，平均呎租約63元，租客為中資企業。

近期甲級商廈市道疲弱，不但空置率創新高，商廈樓價亦相當低迷。早前觀瀾湖集團或相關人士則以3.1億元沽出，其自用的皇后大道中9號全層甲廈，面積約13,769平方呎，平均呎價約2.3萬元，相較2018年高峰期同類樓層呎價低6成，呎價重回2011年水平。

另外，德祥地產 (00199) 則沽出美國銀行中心30樓全層，建築面積約13,880平方呎，連4樓4個車位，以2.6億易手，呎價18,732元，買家為本地發展商。德祥將售後租回該全層寫字樓，月租65萬，租期1年，可再續租1年。

(經濟日報)

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