The top ten housing estates of property agents in various regions had “ups and downs” in transactions over the past weekend, with some seeing increases and others decreases. New developments continue to attract buyers with very appealing prices. Central Midland, Mid-Levels recorded 10 cases, an increase of 6 and 4 cases respectively on a weekly basis; Ricacastle reported 6 cases, a decrease of 1 case per week; and Hong Kong Pros obtained only 2 cases, dropping by 2 cases.
Central Midland’s residential department CEO, Chen Wing-kit, said that new developments continue to attract buyers with low opening prices, while the atmosphere of second-hand transactions has cooled off this month. Central City Leading Index CCL has fallen for 4 consecutive weeks. Owners have started to reduce prices to attract buyers back to the market, driving transaction rebound and expecting property prices to continue to stabilize.
The CEO of Midland Realty’s residential department, Paul Ming, stated that the new development market remains active, with many new projects launched to meet market demand. Park Seasons also conducted a second round of sales last weekend, with new projects taking the market spotlight. However, the second-hand market still shows some resilience. Despite the soft performance of the stock market last week, it did not affect the robust demand for the property market. It is expected that the overall performance of the residential market in the second quarter will be stable and positive.
Ricacastle’s CEO, Leo Wai-keung, mentioned that the current market does not show any obvious favorable factors to sustain the property market boom. The likelihood of interest rate cuts fluctuates, and the actual chance of rate cuts in Hong Kong this year may not be high, meaning that high-interest days may have to be maintained for some time. In addition, developers continue to reduce prices, which somewhat undermines market confidence, putting pressure on both price and volume in the second-hand market. Leo believes that a significant upward momentum for second-hand properties will not be seen until there is an actual timetable for interest rate cuts and further reduction in new property inventory.
Martin Ma, CEO of Hong Kong Pros, said that developers are actively promoting their projects, dominating the primary market. Another new residential project is launching a second round of sales this weekend, along with remaining units, continuing to attract some second-hand buyers. With the ongoing absorption of second-hand properties and the continuous introduction of new projects with diverse unit types and competitive pricing, the primary market’s attractiveness far exceeds the second-hand market, absorbing purchasing power in the market. Additionally, the recent soft performance of the Hong Kong stock market has weakened the investment sentiment, leading to a slight cooling of interest among potential second-hand buyers. However, there are still users searching for hidden gems in the second-hand market, coupled with restrained pricing of new properties, purchasing power will continue to be unleashed, it is expected that the overall performance of the residential property market this month will remain decent.
In terms of regional analysis, regarding Hong Kong Island, Central Midland Realty’s Executive Director of the upscale area, Terence Cheung, stated that there was 1 transaction recorded over the weekend at Stanley City, with the low-floor unit F at the Wah Shan Court with a practical area of 685 square feet and 3 rooms. The owner initially asked for 10.2 million Hong Kong dollars, lowered the price by 1.4 million and sold it for 8.8 million Hong Kong dollars, approximately 5% lower than the market price, with a practical price per square foot of only 12,847 Hong Kong dollars. The original owner purchased the unit for 12.3 million Hong Kong dollars in December 2021, held the property for about two and a half years, with a paper loss of 3.5 million and a depreciation of 28% within the period.
As for the Kowloon area, Lawrence Wan, the Co-Chief Director of Ricacastle’s Wui King branch, stated that the branch had facilitated 1 transaction at Lai Hong City over the past two days. The unit was in Block G of the middle to high-rise, with a practical area of approximately 517 square feet, just sold for 5.85 million Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to an average practical price per square foot of about 11,315 Hong Kong dollars. Lawrence stated that with limited housing estate supply currently, the market entry progress has slowed down, resulting in a corresponding calming of transactions.
In the New Territories area, Hou Wai-leung, Regional Business Manager of Central Midland Realty’s Shatin Cityplaza branch, mentioned that although the market focus has been on new properties recently and second-hand transactions have slowed down, small-capacity high-demand units still show resistance. Shatin Cityplaza recorded 2 transactions over the weekend, including unit F of Block 37 in the middle floor, with a practical area of 284 square feet and a layout of two rooms, fetching 4.34 million Hong Kong dollars, with a practical price per square foot of 15,282 Hong Kong dollars. The original owner purchased the unit in December 2004 for 1.18 million Hong Kong dollars, holding the property for nearly 20 years, realizing a profit of 3.16 million Hong Kong dollars this time, with the unit appreciating about 2.7 times.