Discounts drive new home sales at SHKP’s Novo Land in Tuen Mun as buyer sentiment improves
- SHKP’s Novo Land phase 3B sold 135 of 160 units on offer on Saturday, but 30 units at Continental’s Amber Place in Cheung Sha Wan went unsold
A new residential project in Tuen Mun has gained traction on the back of generous discounts from Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), while sales of another project in Cheung Sha Wan disappointed.
At SHKP’s new project Novo Land phase 3B in Tuen Mun, 135 of 160 units on offer sold by 5pm on Saturday.
The new batch of flats were offered at a discounted of up to 17 per cent compared with previous phases, and received a total of 5,332 cheques as of Friday, making them 32.3 times oversubscribed.
The units comprise two studio, 39 one-bedroom, 95 two-bedroom, and 24 three-bedroom flats, with prices ranging from HK$2.99 million (US$380,000) to HK$8.46 million, or HK$11,102 to HK$12,796 per square foot. The average price was HK$11,854 per square foot.
“The previous phases of Novo Land accumulated a large number of disappointed buyers who were unable to make a purchase, and with the current phase being priced lower with discounts, it is expected that the first batch of units would be sold out on Saturday,” said Eric Chan, senior principal sales director at Centaline Property.
Among Saturday’s buyers were two brothers who purchased two two-bedroom flats at the project for personal use, at a price of about HK$11 million each. Another group of buyers bought two one-bedroom flats for around HK$7 million each, with plans to lease the properties, according to Centaline.
Novo Land’s results stood in sharp contrast to those of Continental’s Amber Place in Cheung Sha Wan, where none of the 30 units on offer were sold. Those flats had an average price of HK$18,754 per square foot.
Sentiment in Hong Kong’s property market has seen some improvement since the city lifted all restrictions in late February. New homes are attracting more buyers compared with second-hand homes due to lower prices, according to Centaline’s Chan. The city recorded 8,000 primary-market transactions in the first half of 2024, reaching about 80 per cent of last year’s transaction volume.
Looking ahead to the second half of this year, factors such as potential interest rate cuts and improving rents are expected to sustain the momentum in the primary market, while second-hand homes will need to take bigger cuts on prices to attract buyers, Chan said.
The city’s home price index inched up 0.3 per cent to 308.7, its highest level since last December, when it stood at 311.3, according to the Rating and Valuation Department. However, prices are still down 12.8 per cent year on year, while the gauge has also dropped 0.83 per cent as of the end of May.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority kept its base rate unchanged for the seventh time at 5.75 per cent on June 13, after the US Federal Reserve decided to maintain its target rate in the range of 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent – its highest level in 23 years.
Additional reporting by Salina Li
