亿京等持有的九龙湾展贸径1号九龙湾国际展贸中心 (下称九展)，落实于6月30日结束营运。就记者于九展现场所见，该项目多处都已经张贴通知，宣布九展将营运至6月30日，并「感谢各租户和客人一直以来对九展的支持和陪伴，期望在未来以全新面貌与大家相见」。

汇星Star Hall 5月仍运作

商场部分如常运作，而近年举行演唱会热门选址之一的「汇星Star Hall」，5月仍会举行多个演唱会和表演活动。不过，商场内部分商户已迁走，也有部分租户近月已经在其社交网站公布搬迁等事宜。

位处展贸径1号的九展，由合和实业发展，1995年落成，楼高14层 (另有4层地库)，提供会议、展览、食肆和写字楼等元素，并于2021年由亿京和资本策略 (00497) 等购入，市场盛传购入价逾100亿元。资料显示，该用地去年曾经获屋宇署批出建筑图则，可以重建为4幢19层 (另设3层地库) 的商业楼宇，涉及约176.78万方呎楼面面积，惟大业主方面至今暂未公布九展未来具体发展方向。

(信报)

渣甸山屋地放售 估值约6亿

分别有两间外资代理行获接管人委託，放售渣甸山包华士道8号独立屋地。市场人士估计物业估值约6亿元，较2022年中低约17%。

该物业现状为两层高独立大宅，罕有单边屋地，门阔达约124呎，气派十足，地盘面积约9,814平方呎，实用面积约6,493平方呎，花园面积约6,000平方呎，极具重建价值。

物业现址划为「住宅 (丙类) 1」用地，可重建为3层高独立屋 (连一层停车间)。物业将会以「交吉」及现状出售。

早年曾放盘 估值7.2亿

资料显示，相关物业于2022年曾委託相关代理放售，当年估值7.2亿元，是次调低估值1.2亿元重新放售，期内贬值约17%。

其中一间代理行代理表示，自政府宣布全面撤辣后，积压的住宅需求逐渐释放，楼市交投回復畅旺，连月录得大手入市个案。渣甸山作为本港传统豪宅区之一，长久以来是中港富豪的首选聚居之地，相信是次放售的独立屋将备受高端买家追捧，特别是内地富豪。

(经济日报)

Rain fails to dampen homebuyers' spirits

Property sales were brisk over the weekend in Hong Kong despite stormy weather as lower prices at new projects attracted more buyers and prompted sellers of second-hand homes to continue cutting prices.

CSI Properties (0497) said its first batch of 52 flats at Topside Residences was 18 times oversubscribed with nearly 1,000 checks. Prices may be raised for the second batch, which will be released today.

The 52 homes account for about 20 percent of the 259 flats at the project, and are offered at an average price of HK$19,388 per square foot after discounts.

CK Asset (1113), meanwhile, said prices for the remaining flats at Blue Coast, atop Wong Chuk Hang MTR station, may be hiked by up to 10 percent.

Two Blue Coast flats - a 958-sq-ft flat for HK$23.16 million and a 773-sq-ft flat for HK$18.58 million - were sold yesterday.

In Ho Man Tin, the first round of sales for 260 flats at phase IIB of Onmantin sold out on Saturday.

In the secondary market, weekend sales at 10 major housing estates tracked by a local property agency saw 11 deals, up by 37 percent, reaching a four-week high.

An agent said developers have shown restraint in pricing and consecutively launched new properties at lower market rates, while secondary homeowners have been willing to offer greater discounts, contributing to a steady upward trend in the overall property market.

(The Standard)

As Hong Kong property launches hit 7-year high, analysts say pent-up demand may moderate

‘The inventory of developers should drop steadily towards the end of the year,’ a local property agent says

Properties that have been priced at a bargain have already been absorbed by the market, an international property agent says

Buoyed by the brisk sales of flats following the removal of Hong Kong’s property cooling measures, the city’s developers have this year launched 4,800 new units as of last week, a seven-year high and about more than half of what they made available to the market in the same period last year, a local property agency said.

In the next 12 months, 31,000 new residential units are expected to be launched by the developers, an international property agency said. That would be three times as much as the 10,650 new units sold during the whole of last year, according to official data.

Starting this weekend and continuing in the coming months, more than 1,900 new units could be made available to potential buyers, including 939 units at The Yoho Hub II in Yuen Long by Sun Hung Kai Properties, 259 units in Topside Residences in Yau Ma Tei by CSI Properties and 114 units at Jardini in Jardine’s Lookout and Wong Nai by Citic Pacific.

CK Asset Holdings will also launch 15 of the 70 remaining units in its El Futuro project in Sha Tin. The first batch of the project was launched in 2020. The latest units to be put on offer on May 1 have the “best views of the horse racing course at night and special features such as U-shaped bedroom windows”, a spokeswoman said.

Including uncleared inventory at projects launched in previous years, 6,060 units have been sold between January and April, according to data tracked by the local property agency.

“The inventory of developers should drop steadily towards the end of the year,” an agent said. “A 10 to 20 per cent drop is reasonable.”

At the end of 2023, Hong Kong developers had an estimated 22,000 unsold new homes, the agent said.

Developers launched only 4,700 units at most between January and April in the 2018-2023 period, but the recent removal of the decade-old property cooling measures has given them an incentive to ramp up launches, the agent added.

On February 28, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced the removal of all measures intended to cool housing prices. Among the measures scrapped were the Buyer’s Stamp Duty that targeted non-permanent residents and the New Residential Stamp Duty for second-time purchasers. Homeowners are also no longer required to pay a Special Stamp Duty if they sell their homes within two years.

The decade-old measures were scrapped to boost a struggling property market.

Along with the removal of all these restrictions, mortgage financing has also been relaxed. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority currently allows homes valued at less than HK$30 million to be eligible for 70 per cent mortgage financing, compared with the previous cap of 60 per cent for flats valued between HK$15 million (US$1.9 million) and HK$30 million.

At the same time, developers have also been extending discounted prices to attract more buyers.

For example, the first batch of flats at the Onmantin residential project by Great Eagle Holdings in Ho Man Tin was priced from HK$17,759 to HK$25,866 per square foot. The cheapest unit, measuring 388 sq ft, had a price tag of HK$6.89 million.

The project was launched on Saturday and all 260 flats on offer had been sold by 9pm.

The first batch’s price range was more than 25 per cent cheaper than that of the nearby In One Above residential project, which was launched by Chinachem Group in May last year.

The prices at Onmantin were also the lowest for the neighbourhood since 2016, when Kerry Properties launched its Mantin Heights development at an average of HK$19,000 per square foot.

However, analysts are forecasting that demand is likely to moderate in the coming months with pent-up demand appearing to taper off. The local agent noted that recent launches had reflected an increase of 1 to 2 per cent in prices.

“As market sentiment has significantly improved in the two months after the removal of the market curbs, much of the purchasing power has been consumed, ” another agent said. “It is likely that the market could perform moderately in the coming months.”

Properties that have been priced at a bargain have already been absorbed by the market, another agent said.

“Sell-through rates in some major project launches dropped from over 95 per cent in the first round to around 70 per cent in subsequent rounds,” the agent said. “With abundant supply and high interest rates in place, buyers in general are looking for a bargain in this tug of war game between developers and sellers.”

Given that interest rates have remained at a more than two-decade high, new unsold units could be fully absorbed by 2025, another agent said.

“Many first homebuyers, both from Hong Kong and elsewhere, are comfortable about getting units from developers,” the agent said.

“Also with new projects under construction, buyers do not need to start mortgages until completion, [and they are] betting that interest rates will be lower next year.”