Hong Kong property: discounts bring relief to ailing sector as thousands queue once more for flats at CK Asset’s Coast Line I in Yau Tong
- The developer looked set to shift all 219 units on offer in phase I, according to Sammy Po, CEO of Midland Realty
- The HK$15,939 per sq ft price tag was slightly higher than the HK$14,868 at last weekend’s sale, which itself was 16 per cent cheaper than the launch in January of Wheelock’s Koko Rosso project
With 95 per cent of the available units sold as of 8pm, the developer looked set to shift all 219 standard units on offer in phase I, according to Sammy Po Siu-ming, CEO of Midland Realty’s residential division for Hong Kong and Macau.
About 3,700 would-be buyers visited the sales office Sunday morning, according to Justin Chiu Kwok-hung, CK Asset’s executive director.
However, some units were not yet sold due to higher selling prices. “Buyers are extremely price-sensitive nowadays, and they would be discouraged by the slightly higher price than their budgets,” Chiu said.“The market will remain sluggish.”
CK Asset, the flagship property developer of feted tycoon Li Ka-shing, priced the flats in Coast Line I at an average discounted price of HK$15,939 (US$2,035) per square foot.
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The units include 110 with one bedroom, 44 two-bedroom flats and 65 three-bedroom homes, with areas ranging from 273 to 736 square feet and discounted prices ranging from HK$3.65 million to HK$13.4 million.
More than half of the prospective buyers had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase units in Coast Line II, Louis Chan Wing-kit, CEO of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency, said at the sales site.
The prices of new flats launched recently were 20 to 25 per cent lower than those of second-hand apartments of the same quality in the neighbouring areas, Chan said.
It is likely that the number of first-hand transactions will rise to about 1,500 for the whole of this month, more than double that of July, said Midland’s Po.
Interest rate hikes coupled with the launch of discounted new homes have led to a muted atmosphere in the secondary market and the further downward movement of property prices, according to market watchers.
The Centa-City Leading Index (CCL), a gauge of lived-in home prices compiled by Centaline Property Agency, showed that Hong Kong’s second-hand home prices fell 1.54 per cent to 162.88 for the week ended August 18, the biggest drop since November 2022.
That ended a three-week winning streak for the CCL, as it fell through 163 points to a 26-week low.
“The secondary housing market is extremely quiet and after a long period of [holding out], more and more homeowners are facing the reality and willing to reduce price to reach a deal,” said Dereck Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties.
Some property owners chose to leave the market at a loss. A two-bedroom flat at Tai Po Centre was sold at HK$5.02 million, the unit was originally put up for sale at HK$5.6 million earlier, according to Midland Realty.
The owner purchased the unit in 2020 for HK$6 million.
Earlier this week, another housing project in Hong Kong – Villa Garda III by Sino Land, K Wah International and China Merchants Land – intensified their sales campaign by releasing their first price list at discounts.
The move was in response to the renewed buying interest sparked by CK Asset’s successful launch, according to analysts.
The project is located in Tseung Kwan O district’s Lohas Park neighbourhood and the developers aim to capitalise on the revival in demand and pre-empt launches by rivals, the analysts said.
