Miami Quay sells at 10 per cent discount as Kai Tak developers grapple with monorail loss in a slowing housing market

Wheelock Properties, Henderson Land Development, New World Development and Empire Group priced the first 130 units of Miami Quay at HK$22,452 per square foot

The price is about 10 per cent cheaper than the Monaco Marine that launched in the same area in April, and 2.3 per cent less than One Victoria that launched in June 2021

A housing project at Kai Tak launched with a 10 per cent discount to the area’s prevailing price, as developers grappled with the sudden loss of mass-transit access and reduced commercial presence in Hong Kong’s former airport site amid a slowing market.

Wheelock Properties, Henderson Land Development, New World Development and Empire Group priced the first 130 units of their Miami Quay apartments at HK$22,452 per square foot on average after discounts, about 10 per cent cheaper than the Monaco Marine that launched in the same neighbourhood in April.

The first phase of Miami Quay, comprising 648 flats in three tower blocks, is scheduled for completion in August 2023. As the second housing project to go on sale on the former runway, Miami Quay’s price is also 2.3 per cent lower than the average price by its predecessor One Victoria, which launched in June 2021 at HK$22,977 per sq ft.

“Overall it’s cheaper,” said Sam Chi-yung, chief strategist at Patrons Securities in Hong Kong, adding that the 2020 decision to scrap a monorail link between Kai Tak and East Kowloon has affected home prices, as did the conversion of three commercial parcels in the area to residential use. “Higher interest and mortgage rates will affect the ability to repay, which indirectly affects sales.”

[Kai Tak] appears to be mostly residential,” Sam said. “Home prices in a place with only residential [property] will not be as high as where there is also commercial use.”

The entry price of Miami Quay is HK$5.24 million (US$667,590) for a flat that measures 250 square feet (23 square metres).

The price was set below the market price to attract the attention of young buyers and small families, said Wheelock Properties’ managing director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu. It could be on sale in the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday next weekend at the earliest, he added.

The average price of second-hand homes has fallen in Hong Kong, as a resurgent Covid-19 outbreak – and the quarantine rules to contain it – has driven the city into a technical recession. A property agency’s index which is a gauge of lived-in homes, fell 0.8 per cent to 173.22 for the week that ended on August 28, the lowest since March 2019.

The index may fall a further 1.9 per cent until the Mid-Autumn Festival next week, the agency said.

Some buyers are taking advantage of falling prices to enter the market, aiming to get ahead of the curve before the rising interest rates imposed by monetary authorities spill over into higher mortgage payments.

The number of residential, commercial and industrial properties as well as parking spaces rose 4.8 per cent to 5,238 transactions in August as more buyers piled in amid the falling prices.

The most affordable prices – usually associated with the smallest units – are finding ready buyers. Wang On Properties launched its Larchwood micro-apartments in western Mong Kok, featuring units as small as 181 sq ft, as cheap as HK$3.83 million. The developer sold 33 units, or 40 per cent of the 83 flats on offer, as of 6:30pm, agents said.

Hong Kong’s government set a 280 sq ft minimum size last December for flats built on government land. However, private projects that were not subject to lease modifications and land exchanges were still not covered by the minimum flat size requirement.

The tiniest flat measures 181 sq ft, slightly larger than a standard car-parking space of 130 sq ft, and costs HK$4.18 million after discounts. The cheapest flat at HK$3.83 million measures 206 sq ft. The average price of the 83 flats is at HK$22,421 per sq ft after discounts. Another 15 Larchwood flats will go on sale on Sunday.

(South China Morning Post)

啟德兩商地保留 少1720伙住宅供應

城規會昨日再審議，有關保留兩幅位於啟德跑道區用地作商業用途的申述及意見，並表示拒絕接納相關反對申述，即兩幅用地將獲保留作商業之用。

上述兩幅獲保留的用地分別為4C區4號及5號用地。會方早前就此再接到4份申述，當中有兩份支持保留商業用途，其餘兩份屬反對意見。

對於由一名個別人士，及有份營運啟德郵輪碼頭的環美航務所提出的支持意見，城規會表示備悉。同時，會方表示不接納其餘兩份反對意見，意味該兩幅用地將保留作商業用途。

政府在去年財政預算案已公布，將啟德5幅商業地改劃成住宅的方案，涉及6,000個住宅單位供應，而是次決定保留兩幅商業地後，最終住宅供應將減少約1,720伙。

西貢綠化地 建330伙住宅

另外，城規會早前計劃將一幅比鄰西貢打鼓嶺新村的綠化用地，改劃成私人住宅用途，提供約330伙。而改劃遭長春社等反對，主因是擬議房屋發展違反「綠化地帶」的規劃意向，並不能應付市民對可負擔房屋供應的需求，加上當局應考慮其他土地供應選項，如棕地及閒置土地。

不過，經會方於昨日審議後，會方同樣拒絕接納所有反對申述，因此方案獲城規會通過，日後將增加約330伙住宅供應。

(經濟日報)

銅鑼灣舊樓強拍添變數

近年銅鑼灣一帶不少舊樓紛紛被財團併購，其中有財團早於2020年向土地審裁處申請強拍的銅鑼灣勿地臣街10及12號舊樓，昨獲該處頒下判決書，指小業主曾去年7月遞交4份專家報告，最終有3份專家報告不被法庭接納，另外申請人在14日內與小業主確認是否提出撤銷部分修訂異議通知書的申請，若未能協商可向法庭申請指示。

另外，早前獲太古地產申請強拍的鰂魚涌華廈工業大廈，於上月低層A室，成交價5950萬；業界透露，上址建築面積4220方呎，呎價約1.41萬，原業主早於1972年約26.5萬購入，帳面獲利約5923.5萬，物業期間升值逾223倍。太古地產發言人表示，華廈工業大廈早於18年申請強拍，最新對上述工廈單位作出收購，該工廈強拍進行中，料與毗鄰仁孚工業大廈作合併發展，以作辦公樓及其他商業用途，總樓面約77.9萬方呎。

(星島日報)