Sun Hung Kai Properties prices new Tin Shui Wai project 9 per cent higher than used homes nearby as trade-war breakthrough boosts confidence

By Martin Choi martin.choi@scmp.com

/ https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/3043571/sun-hung-kai-properties-prices-new-tin-shui-wai-project-9?utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=contentexchange&utm_source=EdgeProp |

January 2, 2020 1:14 PM SGT

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Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest developer, has taken advantage of the breakthrough in US-China trade talks by pricing its new project in Tin Shui Wai around 9 per cent higher than used homes in nearby Kingswood Villa.

The Wetland Seasons Park will be the first project to go on sale in 2020, and the first new project in Tin Shui Wai in 10 years.

"There has been progress in the US-China trade talks, and the stock market has also gone up. Although the social unrest in Hong Kong has made buyers take a wait-and-see approach in the second half of the year, market sentiment has improved and I believe consumer confidence will return," said Victor Lui Ting, deputy managing director at Sun Hung Kai Properties.

"I believe the housing market won't fluctuate as much in 2020 and will stay steady and healthy."

He predicted housing prices in the city would see a mild rise in the coming year.

The new batch of 142 flats at Wetland Seasons Park, which could be put on sale as early as next week, will be sold at an average of HK$11,388 per square foot.

That is about 9 per cent higher than used homes sold in the nearby Kingswood Villa. Centaline Property Agency said the average selling price of Kingswood Villa this month was HK$10,460 per sq ft.

Flat sizes at Wetland range from 410 sq ft to 696 sq ft, with the cheapest two-bedroom unit costing HK$4.80 million while the largest three-bedroom flat priced at HK$7.41 million after discounts.

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Besides the 30 three-bedroom units offered in the first batch of flats, the rest were all two-bedroom units.

One-room studio units will be released in later launches, depending on the market response to the first batch of flats, according to SHKP.

SHKP paid around HK$4.2 billion for two adjoining sites in Tin Shui Wai in 2014, which have now become Wetland. The land price was HK$1,893 per sq ft when the site was first bought, making the average price of the first batch of flats five times the cost of the land.

Buyers in the area have preferred to wait until the price of the Wetland flats has been released before entering the market, resulting in a relatively quiet second-hand market lately. Only 30 transactions were recorded in December, according to Centaline's Tin Shui Wai sales director, Joyce Wong.

The discounted price of Wetland Seasons Park is bound to further hit the second-hard market in the district as well as in the broader New Territories West, said Wong.

Around 23,000 units in more than 60 projects across Hong Kong are set to hit the market in 2020.

Hong Kong homebuyers have stayed on the sidelines amid uncertainty over the city's long-term political environment.

Hong Kong's property market has been in a downbeat mood since a decade-long bull run stalled in recent months, as the combination of the trade war and the city's political unrest deterred buyers. Increasingly, more owners are selling their property at a loss, as they rush to unload their holdings amid the rising uncertainty and downbeat market.

The slump has prompted the government to expand mortgage entitlements for first-time buyers to help them get on the property ladder, helping drive November transactions to a six-month high.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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