Hong Kong developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) has won a government land tender in the New Territories at a price in the “middle-range” of market expectations.
The amount paid was still a long way short of the price commanded by a comparable parcel of residential land sold off by the government almost two years ago in the same area.
SHKP was the winner in a field of 11 bidders for the 2,425 square-metre site in Yuen Shun Circuit in Siu Lek Yuen, Sha Tin, the only residential plot offered during the April to June quarter.
The parcel of land, which can support around 280 flats, went for HK$619 million (US$79.29 million) or HK$3,952 per square foot, according to Land Department filings on Wednesday.
That is roughly the mid-point of estimates of HK$3,000 to HK$5,000 per square foot before the sale.
Other developers to submit bids included CK Asset Holdings, Sino Land, Great Eagle and Citic Pacific, the department had revealed on Friday.
“Property prices are still in a period of adjustment, and coupled with high interest rates and high construction costs, developers have been relatively cautious in their bids,” said James Cheung, executive director at Centaline Surveyors.
“The land was granted for HK$619 million, which is considered to be the middle-range of market expectations, and it is expected to be developed into small and medium-sized flats to meet demand for housing in the district.”
But the price per square foot is less than half that of the most recent residential land sale in Sha Tin. A plot on Hin Wo Lane received 17 bids and sold for HK$786 million, or HK$8,802 per square foot, in September 2022, according to Alex Leung, senior director at CHFT Advisory and Appraisal.
He said that was also a relatively small development project, and therefore a good reference for the Yuen Shun Circuit sale. Vanke Overseas Investment Holding and Wing Tai Properties won the bid for that parcel.
The latest site is close to the City One MTR station and its scale is “moderate”, meaning the investment risk is relatively low, surveyors said.
The government plans to sell just the one plot of residential land in the current quarter as it continues a “prudent and paced” approach during the housing slump, the secretary for development said recently.
Transactions of residential units fell 30.5 per cent month on month to 3,856 in June, with the value of those sales shrinking by 35 per cent to HK$34.5 billion, according to data released by the Land Registry on July 3. The drop follows a 35 per cent decline in residential transactions in May compared with April.
The lack of activity in the market is affecting secondary home prices. The official price index from the Rating and Valuation Department fell 1.22 per cent in May, reversing a 0.5 per cent improvement in April.
The May index reading of 305.9 was the lowest in almost eight years, comparable to November 2016 when it sank to 306.7, according to JLL.
