Advertisement
Hong Kong’s buyers snap up 70 per cent of new homes on offer, casting aside HKMA’s 75-basis point interest hike as banks deferred raising mortgage rates
- Buyers snap up 70 per cent of 332 new flats on offer at three projects across the city
- Henderson sold 70 per cent of Baker Circle Dover in Hung Hom, while SHKP’s Silicon Hill in Tai Po sold 90 per cent of the units on offer
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
5
Hong Kong’s property buyers piled into the market to snap up 70 per cent of 332 new flats on offer at three projects across the city, taking advantage of the breathing room offered by banks this week when they deferred raising their mortgage rates.
In Hung Hom, 126 of the 182 flats at Henderson Land Development’s Baker Circle Dover project found buyers at 5pm, with about 12 bids chasing every available flat, according to sales agents. Over at Sham Shui Po, Ascend Speed sold two of the first batches of 32 flats at its J Loft project.
In Pak Shek Kok of Tai Po district in northeastern Hong Kong, Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) continued its success with its Silicon Hill project, selling 107 of 118 flats on offer during its third round of sales, following two consecutive sell-out weekends.
Buyers were rushing in to get ahead of Hong Kong’s cycle of rising interest rates, as the city’s de facto central bank raised its base rate by 75 basis points on Thursday in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve.
HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng Bank opted to keep their prime rates unchanged on the same day, effectively giving mortgage borrowers breathing room until the next interest rate increase.
“The [effect] of higher interest rates on the market for new homes has been limited, as the sentiment is robust” among property buyers, said Midland Realty’s Hong Kong and Macau residential division chief executive Sammy Po.
Advertisement