中環3幢舊樓5月30日強拍

中環士丹頓街47至57號3幢舊樓，將於5月30日舉行強制拍賣，底價為5.29億元。該物業的地盤面積共約4333.55方呎，其中士丹頓街47至49號為兩幢於1968年落成的7層高商住樓宇；而士丹頓街51至57號華怡樓為一幢於1971年落成的6層高商住樓宇。上址是由HOLLY PROPERTY COMPANY LIMITED於2020年12月向土地審裁處提出強拍申請並於上月獲批強制售賣令。

(信報)

 Hong Kong home prices reverse 3-month drop to climb 0.5pc in April

Hong Kong private home prices reversed a three-month decline in April, the latest official data showed on Friday, as the financial hub stabilized after Covid-related woes and homebuyer sentiment was boosted by waves of new development launches. 

Prices in what a survey company ranked the world's most unaffordable housing market, climbed 0.5 percent in April from the previous month, according to official data, compared with a revised 0.6 percent fall in March. 

Hong Kong's economy was hit earlier this year after some of the world's most stringent social restrictions were imposed to tackle the latest Covid outbreak. The measures also prompted real estate agents to lower forecasts for 2022. 

After months of muted activity, property developers rushed to launch new sales in April in response to the withdrawal of some Covid restrictions, triggering over-subscribed demand from buyers that drove up both transaction volumes and prices. 

After prices posted a fall of 3 percent in the first three months, some realtors expected they had bottomed, though others remained more cautious. 

Online property marketplace Spacious expected prices to drop another 5 percent in the rest of the year, citing a weaker local economy, a deteriorating mortgage rate outlook and the negative effect on personal wealth from weaker equity markets. 

Spacious chief operating officer James Fisher said the property market would lose steam after the initial bounce in transaction in April and May. That bounce was stoked by the release of pent-up demand following the relaxation of restrictions and developer discounts in the primary market, Fisher said. 

"Developers continue to push new supply via discounts and these headwinds remain, we think overall market pricing will deteriorate further over the next few months," Fisher said. 

He added his company's data shows asking prices in the secondary market continued to decline and overall buyer demand remained weak. 

(The Standard)

Hong Kong home prices in April rise for the first time in three months, as deals gain momentum on easing coronavirus curbs

The lived-in home price index in April rose 0.5 per cent to 384

The 0.5 per cent increase in the index was the best after the 1 per cent rise last July

Hong Kong’s home price index reversed a three-month losing streak in April, posting the biggest rise in nine months, following a rebound in the city’s housing market from the devastating fifth wave of coronavirus outbreak that put most economic activities on hold.

The price index for lived-in homes in April rose 0.5 per cent to 384, nearly the same level as February, according to data from the Rating and Valuation Department on Friday. It was the biggest increase since the 1 per cent gain in July 2021. The April figure, however, is still 1.8 per cent lower on a year-on-year basis.

The rise is “higher-than-expected”, a property agent said. “The index will widen its increase in May, but the overall property price [index] in the first half will still see a slight decline.”

The lived-in price index could jump between 1 and 1.5 per cent in May, another agent said, adding that the continuing momentum in June could help the index recoup the first-quarter losses.

Following an easing of the government’s social-distancing measures in late April amid a decline in coronavirus infections, transaction volume started to rebound.

In April, prices of larger homes appeared to have outpaced those of smaller ones, the government data showed. Homes larger than 1,720 sq ft saw the largest increase at 2 per cent.

In the first four months of this year, the property price index fell by 2.51 per cent. The April figure is also 3.54 per cent lower than the record high of 398.1 reached in September last year.

Friday’s data came as developers continue to launch new projects ahead of an imminent increase in interest rates.

Centralcon Properties put on sale 426 flats at The Arles in Fo Tan on Friday. Henderson Land Development, meanwhile, is offering eight flats at The Holborn in Quarry Bay.

(South China Morning Post)

Hong Kong homebuyers adopt wait-and-see approach amid rising mortgage rates and higher unemployment

Only 18 out of 328 homes, or 5.5 per cent of the total, offered at Manor Hill in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O and Prince Central in Prince Edward were sold on Saturday

The relatively high pricing and less favoured units are causing potential buyers to take a wait-and-see attitude amid rising mortgage rates and a higher unemployment

Hong Kong homebuyers held back from buying at two new developments in the city on Saturday, as rising mortgage rates and higher unemployment continue to dampen consumer sentiment.

Only 18 out of 328 homes, or 5.5 per cent of the total, offered at Manor Hill in Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O and Prince Central in Prince Edward were sold on Saturday as of 3.10pm local time, according to agents.

Ten were sold out of Kowloon Development’s 312 homes at Manor Hill, while eight transactions were completed at Sun Hung Kai Properties’ offering of 16 units at its Prince Central development.

The sluggish sales come as local mortgage rates are rising, after the city’s financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po warned earlier this month that homebuyers would bear the brunt of possible rate hikes following the US Federal Reserve move.

“Sales were not that good as the price at Prince Central is not a low market price, while the units offered at Manor Hill are leftover ones [from previous sales],” a property agent said.

Discounted prices for the flats at Manor Hill were HK$5.04 million (US$642,000) to HK$9.8 million, or HK$19,572 to HK$24,980 per square foot (sq ft). Average discounted prices were HK$22,885 per sq ft. Buyers are expected to be able to move in as soon as August.

SHKP’s Prince Central flats, ranging in size from 251 to 624 sq ft, are being offered from HK$6.9 million to HK$21.3 million, or HK$27,677 to HK$34,173 per sq ft after factoring in as much as a 15 per cent discount. Three out of the 16 units will be offered for tender.

The cost of buying a house is rising locally, as the benchmark one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (Hibor) could rise to 1.5 per cent in the third quarter of this year. It will follow the same upwards trajectory as the higher interest rates set by the US Federal Reserve and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

The local jobless rate in the three months ending March climbed to 5 per cent, the highest in nine months.

New home sales are expected to rise to 2,000 units in June, the agent projected, as new developments are gradually entering the market.

Developers continue to launch new projects ahead of an imminent increase in interest rates. Centralcon Properties put on sale 426 flats at The Arles in Fo Tan on Friday. Henderson Land Development, meanwhile, is offering eight flats at The Holborn in Quarry Bay.

The sluggish sales at the two projects followed Wednesday’s robust sales at The Grand Mayfair II in Yuen Long, which were jointly developed by Sino Land, K Wah International and China Overseas Land & Investment (COLI).

Buyers snapped up 251 out of the 288 flats at the project, attracted by its convenient transport links and green amenities.

(South China Morning Post)

Centralcon’s Fo Tan housing project The Arles concludes with less than 2 per cent sold in latest offering

The local developer controlled by tycoon Wong Kwong Miu sold only seven units in its latest round of sales consisting of 426 flats

Experts said Centralcon’s disappointing sales does not suggest a sluggish property market, as buying desire has returned to Hong Kong

A little-known Hong Kong property developer sold less than 2 per cent of the flats available in its latest sale in the city, despite strengthening buying desire as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the housing market eases.

Centralcon Properties, a local developer controlled by tycoon Wong Kwong Miu originally from Guangdong province, sold only seven units in its latest round of sales consisting of 426 flats in The Arles in Fo Tan on Friday, according to sources.

The developer, however, said the project pulled in more than HK$74 million (US$9.4 million) in one day and was satisfied with the sales result. Two of the units sold were sold by tender. It expected sales to be even better after the show flats were opened.

The sale comes as Hong Kong homebuyers started regaining confidence in the city’s housing market. Hong Kong’s home price index reversed a three-month losing streak in April, registering the largest jump in nine months, after the devastating fifth wave of the coronavirus outbreak put most economic activity on hold.

The price index for lived-in homes in April rose 0.5 per cent to 384, nearly the same level as February, according to data from the Rating and Valuation Department on Friday. It was the biggest monthly increase since the 1 per cent gain last July, although it was still 1.8 per cent lower than a year earlier.

The rise was higher-than-expected, a property agent said. “The index will widen its increase in May, but the overall property price [index] in the first half will still see a slight decline.”

Some experts said Centralcon’s disappointing sales does not suggest a sluggish Hong Kong property market.

One of the reasons could be that most of the flats on offer were leftover stock, and buyers have become more selective because of the increase in new properties available, according to another property agent.

“There is buying power. It depends on whether buyers can find the bargain projects they like,” the agent said, “There will be some large projects. They can sell if prices are reasonable.”

The Arles, located near the Fo Tan subway station in eastern New Territories, offered three rounds of sales last October and November.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong’s outgoing chief executive, has high hopes for the New Territories’ property market. Last October, she announced a plan to build a Northern Metropolis near the city’s border with the mainland, where 2.5 million people are expected to live in the next 20 years.

The city has seen a vast improvement in its Covid-19 situation since February, when it started recording an exponential surge in cases. On Friday, Hong Kong reported 250 new infections and one death, a sharp decline from the worst days in March, when more than 70,000 new cases were registered daily.

Price is also a major factor leading to the slow sales at The Arles, according to another property agent.

“If [a project] is not cheap, nobody would buy it … That is the only reason,” the agent said, adding that the project might attract more homebuyers if the price could be 5 per cent lower than the current level.

The flats on sale at The Arles on Friday were priced at an average of about HK$22,700 per square foot, 20 per cent higher than the first batch sold last October, which started at HK$18,888 per square foot.

“The post-pandemic market is not yet stable. There have been good and bad [sales results]. If [the project] is cheap, it can sell 1,000 units. If it is not cheap, there will be few buyers. The limited number of buyers will go around” in search of bargains, the agent said.

(South China Morning Post)