Hong Kong’s buyers shrug aside leftover projects in their rush for small, cheaper homes as robust supply spoils them with options

Centralcon Properties sold 160 flats, or 47 per cent of the second round of 338 units earmarked for sale at The Arles in Sha Tin on Saturday, agents said

Wheelock Properties was less lucky with its Koko Hills project, launched more than a year ago in July 2020, selling only four out of 101 units on offer

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Property buyers queuing up for The Arles apartments in Sha Tin at the sales office of Centralcon Properties in Kowloon Bay on 23 October 2021. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 6:31pm, 23 Oct 2021Updated: 9:35pm, 23 Oct 2021

Hong Kong’s weekend home sales were mixed, with buyers piling in after new launches and the smallest flats that require less upfront payments, giving their collective cold shoulder to unsold projects left over from last year.

Centralcon Properties sold 160 flats, or 47 per cent of the 338 flats earmarked in its second round of sales at The Arles in Sha Tin as of 8:30pm, extending last weekend’s success which found buyers for 82 per cent of the 536 apartments on offer.

Wheelock Properties was less lucky with its Koko Hills project in Nam Tin which was launched more than a year ago in July 2020, selling only four out of 101 units on offer, sales agents said.

“Homebuyers were quick to snap up lower priced single and two-bedroom flats at The Arles, but were more hesitant to purchase flats priced above HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) as there were more choices in the market,” said Midland Realty‘s residential division chief executive Sammy Po Siu-ming, adding that sales were within expectations.

Centralcon Properties’ The Arles project under construction near the Fo Tan subway station in the New Territories, on 14 October 2021. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

The Arles is a crucial test of whether Hong Kong’s residential property bull run can maintain its momentum in October. The project is also the first sales launch in the New Territories since Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor unveiled her plan during her annual Policy Address this month to build a Northern Metropolis close to the southern border of mainland China, where 2.5 million people may live within 20 years.

The outlook for the property market brightened after Lam’s address, and transactions of both new and second-hand homes are expected to quicken, said Louis Chan Wing-kit, Centaline Property Agency’s vice-chairman and chief executive of its residential department in Asia-Pacific. He also predicts new home transactions could reach 2,200 units in October, reaching their highest level in 11 months.