Hong Kong’s homebuyers return to market, snapping up new flats at In One Above project in Ho Man Tin on Sunday

More than half the available flats at the project by Chinachem Properties and MTR Corporation sold by 5:30pm on Sunday
The flats were priced between HK$7.99 million (US$998,000) and HK$30.08 million, or HK$21,948 to HK$32,800 per square foot

Weekend Property

Martin Choi

Published: 6:00pm, 21 May 2023

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Historically high lending rates did not stop Hong Kong’s homebuyers from returning to the market on Sunday to snap up a fresh batch of flats in Ho Man Tin, highlighting improved sentiment in the city’s battered home market.

In the first two hours of the sale, 48 of the 90 flats were sold at the In One Above project by Chinachem Properties and MTR Corporation, according to Chinachem. Another 20 units were slated to be sold separately via bidding.

The flats on offer on Sunday, consisting of one- to three-bedroom flats ranging from 327 to 960 sq ft, were priced between HK$7.99 million and HK$30.08 million after discounts of up to 15 per cent, which translates to HK$21,948 to HK$32,800 per square foot, according to agents.

“In One Above has an advantageous geographical location, with an exclusive elevator that goes directly to the lobby of the Ho Man Tin MTR station,” said Kelvin Cheong, operation director of the residential department of Midland Realty. “The asking prices of the flats were close to market prices, which makes them attractive to homebuyers, but also long-term investors,” he said.

The exterior of In One Above, a property development project atop Ho Man Tin MTR station. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Rental prices for the flats could reach HK$80 per square foot, with a rental return of around 3.5 per cent, Cheong estimated.

“Coupled with the view of the Victoria Harbour … it is expected that these units will continue to be sought by the market,” Cheong said. He expected around 70 per cent of the flats to sell by the end of the day.

The project will have a total of 447 units ranging from 311 sq ft to 1,615 sq ft. It is slated for completion in November 2024.

Green buildings hold the upper hand in Hong Kong’s property glut

Market sentiment in late May has significantly improved from April, and as long as developers can keep their asking prices at restrained levels, transactions of new flats could reach 1,200 this month, said Louis Chan Wing-kit, CEO of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency. Around 770 first-hand flat transactions were recorded in May as of Saturday, he added.

“Second-hand properties are under pressure from competitive asking prices from new flats,” Chan said. “Second-hand property prices are expected to fluctuate within a narrow range.”

The city’s property market has been showing signs of an upswing. The Rating and Valuation Department’s home price index, a gauge of lived-in home prices, climbed 1.35 per cent to 351.4 in March, the highest since 360.3 in September. It was the third straight monthly increase, with gains in Hong Kong’s secondary market adding up to about 5 per cent for the year.

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Hong Kong’s economy expanded 2.7 per cent year on year in the first three months of 2023, marking the end of a recession after four straight quarters of decline owing to the devastating impact of the coronavirus and the corresponding government restrictions, according to preliminary figures released by the Hong Kong government earlier this month. The economy shrank by 4.1 per cent year on year in the final three months of 2022.

Meanwhile the cost of money has soared as the city’s de facto central bank followed the US Federal Reserve in a long series of interest-rate increases, culminating in the key lending rate hitting a 15-year high this month.

The In One Above sale comes hot on the heels of a sell-out sale last weekend, when homebuyers snapped up 159 of the 160 units available at Sun Hung Kai Properties’ (SHKP) University Hill project in Tai Po on May 13.

Green buildings hold the upper hand in Hong Kong’s property glut

Last week, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu stonewalled calls for more relief measures to help residents purchase property as legislators approved a tax-cutting bill for buyers of cheaper homes.

Hui said the bill would benefit about 37,000 homebuyers by reducing stamp duty payments by up to HK$67,500 (US$8,612).

Stamp duty is a tax levied on documents that are required to legally record property transactions. The government began imposing a series of increased stamp duties on property in 2010 in a bid to crack down on rampant speculation.