New | Record land premium at residential site above Hong Kong subway line
Price of residential phase eight reveals 25 per cent rise in two months
Home prices at Lohas Park in the Tseung Kwan O area of Hong Kong have lagged behind the overall performance of housing estates along MTR lines but land prices in the area have risen 25 per cent in two months.
Residential land prices in the area hit a record on Friday when the HK$2.955 billion - HK$2,830 per square foot - land premium payable for phase eight of Lohas Park was unveiled.
"The levy will be the highest for a residential project in the area," said Victor Lai Kin-fai, the chief executive of consultancy Centaline Professionals.
The asking land premium was 25 per cent higher than the HK$2,260 per square foot for the sixth phase. It was also higher than market expectations of HK$2.6 billion, or HK$2,600 per square foot.
Lai said phase eight should be compared with phase six, which was also a purely residential development rather than the commercial-residential project for the seventh phase.
The land premium for phase seven was HK$3,147 per square foot, due to the project including a nearly 500,000 sq ft shopping mall. "Land premium for commercial land will be more expensive," Lai said.
Taking construction costs and interest expenses into account, Lai estimated the total investment cost for the project could reach HK$7 billion.
