The new pneumonia epidemic is on the verge of threatening, and local developers have slowed down the sale of new properties. Woo Kwong-yiu, the Executive Director of Wheelock Properties, expressed after attending a radio interview yesterday that the society is paying attention to the development of the epidemic and making preparations. He said the Group would not implement the sales schedule of the LOHAS Park 9C, which had been approved of pre-sales in early and supples 503 units before the market atmosphere is moderate. He also believed that the epidemic does not affect the pricing because the Group has properties being put on sale in the same district currently. He expected the fluctuation of property prices in the first half-year to be about 5%, and that in the second half-year might be a slight increase.
(By Leong Yuet Kam)
The pace of first-hand property sales has slowed down, but Wheelock yesterday launched 11 units from two housing estates for tenders, which will be closed at 5 pm on February 3. Among them, NAPA in So Kwun Wat, Tuen Mun includes eight villas ranging from 1,763 sq ft to 2,099 sq ft; OASIS KAI TAK in Kai Tak launched three low-rise compound apartments ranging from 1,360 sq ft to 1,496 sq ft, with rooftops or gardens.
Woo KwongYiu said the impact of the epidemic was not reflected.
Woo KwongYiu believed the property prices in the first half-year might fluctuate by about 5%, and the transactions will be stable facing many uncertain factors, including "social events" and the new pneumonia epidemic, which has not reflected in the real economy for the time being. At the same time, property prices may increase slightly in the second half of the year. This year, the Group has three to four projects for sale, including LOHAS Park Phase 9C, Sin Fat Road Project in Lam Tin, Muk Tai Street project in Kai Tai District, and so on. Among them, LOHAS Park Phase 9C may be launched in the first quarter, and the Sin Fat Road Project will be launched in the second quarter.
The Government has previously adjusted the ratio of public and private housing supply to seven to three. He believed that in disguised form, this measure would reduce the land supply that developers can participate in and may push up land prices. He hopes that the Government should increase land supply through reclamation and other long-term methods.
Land reserve is sufficient for five years.
He also pointed out that the current land reserve held by the Group is sufficient for 4 to 5 years. And they will continue to pay attention to MTR and redevelopment projects. However, the difficulty in merging most of the property rights due to the limited scale of urban renewal projects, plus with the procedures for some re-purposed land through the Town Planning Board and of land premium, may affect the time of supply.
When asked if the Group would lend land for intergrade housing, he said that the Group has a small agricultural land reserve and had lent suitable land to non-profit-making institutions. For the time being, first of all, it was necessary to make preparations.
On the other side, Wan Wai-ming, the Director of Sales and Marketing Planning (Hong Kong Real Estate) of K.Wah International, said yesterday that the Kai Tak Station of the MTR Tunma Line would be officially opened to traffic on February 14. So the transportation in the area will be more convenient. The Group’s K⋅Summit in Kai Tak, which had been put on sale at the end of last year, will have a new round of sales and deployment. Information shows that this project has sold 156 units, remaining about 850 units. As for Solaria in Pak Shek Kok, Tai Po, it will obtain a certificate of compliance in the short term, and the remaining about 240 units will be put on sale by existing houses.
K. Wah has three brand-new projects this year, including sole proprietorships and cooperative projects, with a total of more than 3,600 units. He pointed out that they will put on sale the luxury residential project at No. 2 Grampian Road, Kowloon, within the year, and it will provide five large feature houses. The other two are large-scale cooperative projects are Hing Wah Street West project (about 1,400 units) in Cheung Sha Wan cooperating with Sino, Wheelock, Shimao, SEA Holdings, etc., and West Rail Kam Sheung Road Station phase 1 development project (about 2,200 units) developing with Sino and China Overseas Land & Investment.
Ka Wah launches three first-hand projects, including over 3,600 units.
Besides, Hon Ka-fai, the General Manager of the Sales (II) Department of Henderson Property, expressed that The Richmond in Robinson Road, Midlevels West additionally launched 30 units recently, and will announce sales arrangements later. He also said Cetus phase 3 in Mong Kok of the same series would be the second new project launched by the department this year. Cetus·Square Mile of the same series is handing over in succession, and existing houses will be put on sale in the short term.
