Hong Kong developers continue to hasten sales of new residential projects at discounts to reduce inventory while growing optimism that interest rates will fall this year buoys buyer sentiment.
Two price lists were unveiled this week for sales starting next week: The Haddon, which is phase four of Henderson Land’s Midtown South residential project in Hung Hom, and The Highline in Kennedy Town, developed by Right Honour Investments under the Shanghai Commercial Bank. Sun Hung Kai Properties plans to release a price list within the next week for phase 3B of Novo Land in Tuen Mun, with no sales date yet announced.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is due for its next rate decision on June 13, in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve. Although no change is expected at that meeting, more traders expect the Fed to cut rates twice in the remaining months of 2024, according to CME Group.
Henderson Land released the first price list of 92 units at The Haddon on May 30, with an average price of HK$19,280 (US$2,469) per square foot. The list includes 72 one-bedroom units, 15 two-bedrooms and five three-bedrooms flats. Prices after discounts range from HK$4.81 million to HK$8.52 million, or HK$18,368 to HK$20,615 per square foot.
Compared with the average price in the first price list of its previous phase, Baker Circle Greenwich, in July last year, the developer has raised the average price by 1.9 per cent.
The units will be put up for sale next Tuesday, Henderson Land said. The project has a total of 453 units ranging from 223 to 430 sq ft, with no studios.
The first price list of 50 units at The Highline, released on Wednesday, has surprised the market because the average price after discounts stands at HK$21,380 per square foot – the lowest in the district in eight years and about 18 per cent lower than the recent average of around HK$26,000 per square foot in western Hong Kong Island, according to Midland Realty.
It is also more than 20 per cent lower than the first price list released by neighbouring project Kennedy 38 in November 2021.
The 50 units comprise 40 studios, six one-bedroom flats and four two-bedroom units, with sizes ranging from 211 to 524 sq ft. The cheapest unit is a 206 sq ft studio flat priced at HK$3.89 million after discounts.
The Highline offers a total of 173 units in a 30-story tower: 90 studios, 50 one-bedrooms, 14 two-bedrooms and 19 three-bedrooms.
Novo Land phase 3B is the last phase in Sun Hung Kai’s Novo Land residential project in Tuen Mun. Its two buildings contain 769 units.