Hong Kong’s first new residential property launch of 2019 gets off to a good start after developer cut prices by up to a third
- The average price at The Regent in Tai Po is HK$12,800 per square foot, after the developer China Overseas Land slashed prices
- The developer offered discounts of up to 33 per cent
Hong Kong’s first sales launch of a new residential property project in 2019 got off to a good start, as China Overseas Land and Investment sold most its latest apartment complex in Tai Po with steep discounts.
The Regent, a project featuring 1,620 flats between 377 square feet and 761 sq ft in size, released the first batch of 486 units for sale on Saturday, attracting up to 7,500 bids, or an average of 15 buyers for every available flat. The developer managed to sell 470 units, or 97 per cent of the flats offered, by the end of the launch at 9pm, agents said.
The Regent is popular because of the attractive prices that the developer is offering, said Midland Realty’s residential division chief executive Sammy Po Siu-ming.
“The demand and purchasing power had always been there, but the low price was really what attracted” buyers who would otherwise wait on the sidelines for the market to cool further, he said.
China Overseas Land slashed its prices by up to a third, compared with similar projects that launched in the same neighbourhood as recently as five months ago. The declining prices underscored the downturn in the world’s most expensive residential property market, as a combination of government policies, rising mortgage rates and additional supply halted a two-year bull market in its tracks.
The number of property transactions in Hong Kong, including those for flats, offices and car parking space, fell 58 per cent to 3,024 in December from the same period in 2017, according to data from Midland Realty.
