During the past weekend, sales of new properties in Hong Kong continued. In the second-hand market, the top ten estates saw transactions rise to double digits, with increased trading volume.
Shanghai New World (00017.HK) and Fe Consort Intl. (00035.HK) cooperated on the development of the Kai Tak "Baycrest" series, which sold a total of 254 units within nine days, accounting for 83% of available units and cashing in over 1.7 billion yuan. This included 22 large-scale buyers, which occupied about 70% of the entire market.
Kerry PPT (00683.HK)'s Kai Tak "Waves" developed overseas by China Res Land (Overseas) and Poly Property (00119.HK) added four transactions last Saturday (20th). The units, both located on the 15th and 16th floors of two buildings, were four-bedroom units with two en suite bathrooms and a private elevator lobby. They enjoyed a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour and the total deal was worth over 308 million yuan. The developer said that since the scheme's launch, a total of 256 units had been sold at a price over 10.74 billion yuan.
Cheung Kong (01113.HK)'s Tuen Mun "Fei Yang Phase 1" recorded a new transaction last Saturday (20th). The unit is a three-bedroom unit located on the 18th floor of Block 2, with a size of 722 square feet and a fill price of 10.205 million yuan, with an average fill price of 14,134 yuan per square foot.
Mont Verra, the low-density project in Kowloon Mid-Levels developed by Kerry PPT (00683.HK), sold the third garden mansion of basement A last Saturday with a practical area of 4,176 square feet and garden area of 2,041 square feet. The four-bedroom and four-bathroom unit, plus double maid's room, was sold for 1.8 billion yuan, at an average fill price of approximately 43,103 yuan per square foot, including one residential parking space.
In the second-hand sector, Midland Realty recorded 10 transactions for the top ten estates, surging back to double digits this weekend, up 42.9% weekly, and the number of untraded estates decreased to four.
Chen Wing Kit, APAC Vice Chairman and Residential CEO of Midland Realty, said that recent cuts in interest rates have continued to increase expectations, and buyers' confidence in the market has increased. In addition, developers have been committed to promoting low stock prices, which has successfully stimulated purchasing power. A new development in Tuen Mun (CastleGreen) is offered at super low stock price of less than HKD 10,000 per square foot and 188 units were sold out yesterday. This has tested the market's acceptance and many owners have expanded their discounting efforts, making second-hand discount properties still attractive to many buyers who step into the market opportunistically.
According to statistics from the U.S. Property Agency, there were about 11 transactions for the top ten estates during the weekend of July 20th-21st, up about 57.1% weekly, back to double digits. Under the top fifteen estates, there were about 13 transactions on both days, also up about 18.2% weekly.
Buggle Lau, Executive Director of Residential Division at U.S. Property Agency, believed that with the approaching interest rate cuts, more purchasing power will flow into the real estate market, and some will be diverted to the second-hand market, which will encourage customers who have been considering entering the market for some time to accelerate their purchases and help further boost second-hand trading volume.