The Lands Department issued pre-sale consents to five unfinished private residential projects last month, among them Sino Land's 3,098-unit Island Resort in Siu Sai Wan.
Four other projects approved are much smaller in scale, involving a total of 278 units.
They include Henderson Land Development's 128-unit luxury project King's Park Hill in King's Park Rise, Cheung Kong (Holdings') 48-unit Sheffield Villas in Hung Shui Kiu, Hon Kwok Land Investment's 52-unit Kam Fung Court in Tsuen Wan, and Asean Resources' 50-unit The Colonnade in Tai Hang.
Island Resort will be the biggest residential project to go on sale this year and the sale probably will serve as a gauge of confidence in the mass housing sector.
The project is a joint venture between Sino Land, the Bank of China, Vicwood Group and China Everbright Holdings.
The consortium paid a record $11.82 billion for the Siu Sai Wan site at a government auction in March 1997.