本港疫情走势平稳，为甲厦市场释出正面讯息。据一间外资测量师行指出，中环甲厦空置率于上月报7.4%，属连跌6个月，并预期市况可逐步改善，料明年港岛区甲厦租金上升约5%至10%。

连跌六个月

该测量师行昨日发表市场报告指出，中环甲厦空置率于今年11月报7.4%，属连跌6个月，儘管疫市下居家工作成市场大趋势，令写字楼需求萎缩，惟据该行统计资料显示，约70%以香港为总部的企业，于未来三年间均考虑增加写字楼租用面积，证明于疫市下写字楼仍为企业营运的重要元素。

展望来年市况，在「再中心化」的推动下，该行预计明年港岛区甲厦租金将上升5%至10%，并以中环区升幅最高；至于九龙区于未来面对较大新供应，故该行预期该区于明年写字楼租金升幅仅约2%。

至于零售市道方面，据相关统计数字显示，本港10月零售销售金额约307亿，连升9个月，按年上升约12%，此外，截止今年10月奢侈品销售金额为318亿，较去年同期上升29.2%。

料明年租金升10%

与此同时，本地电子商务市场持续增长，与去年同期相比，今年首10个月的网上销售金额飆升41.7%，随着零售市场逐步復甦，该行预计整体零售租金将稳定下来，明年首季零售表现将取决于疫情发展，以及本港与内地免检疫通关的时间。

(星岛日报)

统一中心高层 呎租37跌12%

金鐘金鐘道95号统一中心高层A03室新近获承租，单位面积约4,382平方呎，以每月16.2万元租出，呎租37元，较旧租金减约12%，新租客为律师楼。

(经济日报)

更多统一中心写字楼出租楼盘资讯请参阅：统一中心写字楼出租

更多金鐘区甲级写字楼出租楼盘资讯请参阅：金鐘区甲级写字楼出租

Siu Ho Wan flats set to get green light

MTR Corporation's (0066) proposal to build 15,000 flats atop Siu Ho Wan Depot in Lantau Island is expected to receive the green light from the Town Planning Board today.

The 300,658-square-meter site will be developed in four phases. Phases one to three comprises of 56 residential buildings with a total gross floor area of 1.04 million sq m, the application showed.

The three phases will provide a total of 10,720 private flats and 4,280 public flats. The remaining site portion, or phase four, will be reserved for future expansion to provide about 6,200 public housing flats, mainly subsidized sale flats.

Also expected to win a nod from the board today is Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016), who proposed to boost the number of flats of its renewal residential project at Sha Tsui Road in Tsuen Wan by 283, or 27 percent, to 1,330.

Meanwhile, in the firsthand property market, Henderson Land Development's (0012) new project in Cheung Sha Wan which offers 337 units was named The Harmonie.

The presale consent of the project was granted recently and the first price list may be released right after January 1 at the earliest, said Thomas Lam Tat-man, a general manager of the sales department.

Caine Hill, Henderson's other project in Sheung Wan, has launched another batch of 18 units after selling 26, or nearly 93 percent of the 28 units offered in the second round of sales.

The latest batch, including three studio homes and 15 one-bedroom homes, are priced from HK$5.91 million to HK$9.06 million after discounts, Henderson said.

Separately, Sino Land (0083) said it sold 1,740 flats this year, of which Grand Victoria contributed 658 flats. The developer expected to launch four new projects next year.

In other news, the vacancies of Central offices have dropped for six months in a row to 7.4 percent in November on growing demand, a report by a real estate consultancy showed.

(The Standard)

2022 property outlook: Super-size mansions, nano flats, and home offices round out the most important trends in Hong Kong’s housing market

Mansions which cost at least HK$100 million each will become even larger in the new year, as developers aim to catch the eyes of the ultra rich from mainland China

Micro-apartments will shrink even further in Hong Kong as these diminutive abodes are the first rung of the property ladder for many first-home buyers

Hong Kong’s transactions of new residential property may rise 15 per cent next year as buyers continue their demand in every segment of the market from 138-square foot micro-apartments to 4,500-sq ft mansions on The Peak, according to one of the city’s largest real estate agencies.

Up to HK$280 billion (US$36 billion) of new homes may find buyers in 2022, marking the second year that annual transactions have risen, amid the bull run in the residential property market, according to a property agency.

With only a few days left in 2021, home seekers are eagerly looking ahead to the housing market in the Year of the Tiger.

Here are five noteworthy trends for both buyers and sellers in 2022:

1) Mansions will go supersize to attract ultra-wealthy mainland Chinese buyers

A record 129 large, luxury apartments each costing more than HK$100 million were sold in 2021 for a combined HK$31.6 billion. Developers are building even more large homes to appeal to the ultra wealthy, especially those from mainland China, with the rapid development of the Greater Bay Area.

Kerry Properties has taken the lead with supersize homes in Kowloon. The luxury builder controlled by the Kuok family of the Shangri-La Group, will release three Mount Verra mansions each measuring more than 11,000 square feet (1,021 square metres) at Beacon Hill in Kowloon Tong, according to its latest plan, without disclosing the price of the homes.

In the New Territories, five 7,000-sq ft villas are on offer at the Cadenza project in Kwu Tung by CSI Properties.

Not to be outdone, K. Wah International Holdings and Chuang’s Consortium are planning to build an eight-storey villa at 28 Po Shan Road at The Mid-Levels, with 44,388 s ft of space over eight floors, complete with a garden measuring 4,446 sq ft and another 2,197 sq ft on its roof terrace.

“The richest Chinese measure their wealth by the size of their residences in terms of mu,” where each unit of the Chinese measurement for land size is equivalent to 7,176 square feet, property consultant said. “Houses of that size will appeal to the richest on the mainland.”

The most over-the-top plan, on paper at least, may be the proposal by China Evergrande Group to build a cluster of 248 luxury villas at Wo Shang Wai near the Mai Po Wetlands in the New Territories.

The centrepiece of the project is a HK$4 billion mansion with eight bedrooms, four private lifts, gardens, a swimming pool and water displays, according to draft plans. At 240,000 sq ft, it will be as big as 180 of the biggest flats in Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong’s most popular mass-market residential project, put together. Compared with the average living space of less than 200 sq ft for every resident in Hong Kong, the size of this single mansion is unprecedented.

Evergrande paid HK$4.2 billion (US$541 million) to convert the farmland into residential use. The company, which defaulted on an offshore bond while it grapples with more than US$300 billion of liabilities, was not available to say whether the Wo Shang Wai project would proceed.

2) Flats will become smaller to help local buyers get on the property ladder

With home prices hovering near records, young Hong Kong families, fresh graduates and first-time buyers have no choice but to opt for the smallest flats that require the smallest down payments to get on the property ladder.

“Flats in urban areas will be tiny, especially those redevelopment residential projects in the city centre,” property agency said.

Known variously as micro-apartments, nano flats, or shoebox homes, tiny abodes have been all the rage in Hong Kong ever since CK Asset Holdings set the trend in motion in 2014 when its Mont Vert project in Fanling sold out in a massive success. The smallest unit, at 165 sq ft, was available for HK$1.29 million after a 15 per cent discount.

Several projects have since followed, the most recent being Chun Wo Development’s Soyo nano flats in Mong Kok, which measure between 152 sq ft and 228 sq ft, priced from HK$3.38 million to HK$5.95 million for an average of HK$24,179 per square foot. The developer had a taste of success in March when a 128-sq ft nano flat at its TPlus project in Tuen Mun sold for HK$2.35 million in the secondary market, a 52 per cent appreciation from its purchase price in 2019.

3) Covid-19 keeps people working from home, driving them further from office locations

Sino Land, one of the biggest developers in Hong Kong, said property buyers have become more tolerant of distances between their homes and the major office hubs ever since Covid-19 broke out in early 2020.

“We have clients who moved from Hong Kong Island to [Sino Land’s new project] Silversands in Wu Kai Sha near Ma On Shan as they would like to live closer to nature,” said the developer’s associate director Victor Tin. “The trend will continue in 2022 as more companies adopt work-from-home arrangements, which alter the way people live. They don’t mind moving further out for better air quality.”

4) Builders add business centres to amenities to let customers work from home

The clubhouse at Sun Hung Kai Properties’ St Martin development in Tai Po features stylish co-working space. The Townplace Soho serviced apartments on Caine Road by the same developer has what it calls “duo social space” indoor and outdoor communal areas that are designed to be work-friendly, featuring soundproof rooms for meetings and video conferences.

The recreational club at Sino Land’s Grand Central development in Kwun Tong has private rooms for residents to hold team meetings.

“We have organised more health related activities for our residents and most of them drew a good response,” said Tin.

5) Narrowing price gap between New Territories and Kowloon

The suburban nature of the New Territories, close to mainland China’s border with Hong Kong, has no longer a drawback for homebuyers, as new subway lines and stations in the area slash the commuting time with the major urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, a property consultancy said.

“New townships in the New Territories have enhanced the appeal of the region, most notably in retail offerings. Yoho Mall in Yuen Long is home to a number of international brands including American Eagle, Agnès b. and Aigle,” property consultant said.

Last week, Sun Hung Kai Properties released the first 206 units of The Yoho Hub residential project above the Yuen Long subway station at an average price of HK$19,899 per sq ft, about 18 per cent less than Soyo development in Mong Kok.

The price gap was 23 per cent last January when Hong Kong Ferry offered the first 112 units at Skypoint Royale in Tuen Mun for HK$15,020 per sq ft, compared Vanke released The Campton in Cheung Sha Wan for HK$19,511 per sq ft in the same month.