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Aileen Chuang

Hong Kong homebuyers are piling into flats on sale in Tseung Kwan O on Saturday, taking advantage of the cheapest prices seen in the area in five years and the government’s abolition of purchasing curbs last month.
Wheelock Properties sold out its entire first batch of 368 units on offer at Seasons Place by 6pm on Saturday, recording sales worth HK$2.36 billion (US$301.8 million).
The number of units offered in the first round were the largest seen this year so far.
“A new batch of units are expected to be launched in the short term, and there will be room for price increases,” Wheelock managing director Ricky Wong said in reaction to the strong market sentiment.

Even before the sale on Saturday, the project had attracted more than 10,000 prospective buyers who put down deposits. About 20 per cent of the buyers are from mainland China, according to the developer.
Wheelock priced the flats at a five-year low for the district, aligning with peers who continue to offer discounts to woo buyers in the wake of the government’s policy stimulus.
The units at Seasons Place include up to three bedrooms, with areas ranging from 323 to 665 sq ft. The price after discounts has been set between HK$4.47 million and HK$10.8 million, or HK$13,576 to HK$16,257 per square foot.
The discounted average price of the 368 units is HK$14,604 per square foot.
The project is the first of a three-phase residential development in Lohas Park Phase 12, or Phase 12A. It will have 650 units and is being developed with transit operator and developer MTR Corporation. These three phases of Lohas Park – 12A to 12C – will provide a total of 1,985 units.
The project attracted many young homebuyers and investors.


“Long-term investors accounted for 20 per cent, a significant increase compared with before the withdrawal of purchasing curbs,” said Sandia Lau, Centaline Property’s Kowloon District director.
“This is all thanks to the significant reduction in home ownership costs, which attracts people to buy more than one house to collect rent, and the return is expected to be as high as 3 per cent.”
Late last month, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po scrapped all cooling measures restricting property transactions as he unveiled a budget aimed at restoring the city’s flagging fiscal health, addressing mounting calls from the property and business sectors to ditch the decade-old measures.
The scrapped measures include the Buyer’s Stamp Duty that targeted non-permanent residents and a New Residential Stamp Duty for second-time purchasers. Homeowners will also no longer need to pay a Special Stamp Duty if they sell their homes within two years.
The Hong Kong Mortgage Authority followed suit with its own easing measures. Homes valued at less than HK$30 million are now eligible for 70 per cent mortgage financing, compared with the previous cap of 60 per cent for flats valued between HK$15 million and HK$30 million.
The city’s property market could get an additional boost from a reduction in interest rates later this year.
Hong Kong left its base rate at 5.75 per cent on Thursday, in line with the US Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain its watchful stance. Some analysts predicted that Hong Kong lenders could start cutting their prime rates later this year.
The market expected lending rates to fall by 0.75 per cent, according to Sammy Po Siu-ming, CEO of Midland Realty’s residential division for Hong Kong and Macau.
He added that transactions on the first-hand market are expected to reach 4,500 this month, the highest since November 1998.


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Hong Kong property

Hong Kong property: homebuyers flock to Wheelock’s Seasons Place in Tseung Kwan O

Potential home buyers line up for Wheelock Properties’ Seasons Place as it kicks off its first round of sales for 368 units on Saturday at the sales office in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Photo: SCMP / Yik Yeung-man

Wheelock’s Seasons Place in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s Wheelock prices Lohas Park project Seasons Place at 5-year low for Tseung Kwan O

Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: Martin Chan

Hong Kong homebuyers snap up Uptown East flats worth US$179 million in Kowloon Bay, as market rebounds after curbs removal

Buyers line up inside the Tsuen Wan sales office of the Uptown East residential project in Kowloon Bay on March 17, 2024. Photo: May Tse

Uptown East, a residential project developed by Wong Sun Hing and partner New World Development, seen under construction on March 15, 2024. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Wong Sun Hing group managing director Connie Wong Wai-ching at the Uptown East sales office on March 17, 2024. Photo: May Tse

An artist’s impression of Uptown East, a residential project of Wong Sun Hing and partner New World Development. Photo: Handout

Homebuyers purchased 238 of the 336 flats on offer at the Uptown East project in Kowloon Bay on March 17, 2024. Photo: May Tse

Hong Kong property: Henderson to launch 7,100 new homes this year, saying market has ‘bottomed out’ and ‘stabilised’

Signage for Henderson Land is seen at a construction site in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Potential home buyers queue up for Henderson Land’s Belgravia Place residential project at the sales office on March 3. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

The Henderson commercial building was completed in January. Photo: Bloomberg

Hong Kong property: Henderson’s Gateway Square Mile sees modest sales, the first setback after lifting of curbs

An artist’s impression of Henderson Land’s Gateway Square Mile residential project in Tai Kok Tsui. Photo: Handout

Henderson Land offered 68 units in the Gateway Square Mile residential project in Tai Kok Tsui on Friday. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong property: sale of historic Pok Fu Lam mansion for US$26.5 million signals luxury market rebound after curbs lifted

The 90-year-old converted mansion, Jessville Manor, has changed hands for US$26.5 million, adding to evidence that the recent scrapping of property curbs may be starting to revive the luxury housing market. Photo: SCMP Handout

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Wheelock Properties sold out of its first batch of 368 units on offer at Seasons Place on Saturday, recording sales worth HK$2.36 billion
The project had attracted more than 10,000 prospective buyers in a rebounding market after government stimulus


Wheelock Properties sold 120 units of the first batch of 368 units on offer at Seasons Place on Saturday.


Hong Kong property: homebuyers flock to Wheelock’s Seasons Place in Tseung Kwan O

Wheelock Properties sold out of its first batch of 368 units on offer at Seasons Place on Saturday, recording sales worth HK$2.36 billion The project had attracted more than 10,000 prospective buyers in a rebounding market after government stimulus

Wheelock Properties sold out of its first batch of 368 units on offer at Seasons Place on Saturday, recording sales worth HK$2.36 billion

The project had attracted more than 10,000 prospective buyers in a rebounding market after government stimulus