The continued surge in new coronavirus cases in Hong Kong has done little to thwart the demand for new homes in the city as evident in the completely sold-out first batch of Henderson Land Development's latest project. One of the city's largest property developers announced that that it had managed to sell all of 185 units on offer at its Seacoast Royale project in Tuen Mun.
The demand for its units defied expectations within the city's property sector, particularly after it had experienced its 11th day of triple-digit confirmed coronavirus cases. The complete sale of the first batch of units underscores the still lingering appetite of home buyers and the resilience of the real estate market amid the economic challenges.
According to Henderson Land, more than 8,563 buyers had registered to be part of the bidding for the 185 units on offer. This means that around 46 people had put down deposits to be eligible to bid for each unit available. Real estate brokers pointed out that thousands of buyers still visited the site to view and bid for the units despite the coronavirus threat.
The positive response during the latest home sale was been seen by experts as a good indication of the stability of property prices in the city despite its economic downturn. It also underscores the effectiveness of the government's continued financing to support economic activity. The cheap financing options providing by the city's monetary authority proved to be very effective in attracting investors to the project.
The Seacoast Royale project, developed by Hong Kong Ferry Holdings and Empire Group Holdings, is offering a total of 611 competitively priced units. A studio unit at the development, which on average measures just 19.2 square meters, starts at around HK$2.91 million, or roughly $375,000. The project is offering the cheapest new units available in the Ava 228 area in Sham Shui Po in nearly two years. The area is well-known for its micro-apartment units. As of last year, the cheapest micro-apartment, with an area of around 14 square meters, was priced at around HK$2.8 million.
With its cheap prices, some buyers had opted to bid on multiple units. Henderson Land's sales manager, Thomas Lam, revealed that one buyer even paid HK$22.74 million for four units. Some buyers had reasoned that buying property was one of the safest investments to make given the current economic situation. Most are expecting home prices to climb once the pandemic is over, so it makes a lot of sense to purchase the units now while they are still being offered at a relatively cheap price.
