Harbor-view HOS flat up for grabs at $5.3m

A 457-square-foot flat on Hong Kong Island with a harbor view that is priced at HK$5.31 million is the most expensive among nearly 9,000 subsidized housing units being offered to prospective homeowners.

The price list for flats under the Home Ownership Scheme revealed yesterday provides prospective homeowners with the information they need to start selecting target flats next Tuesday.

Flats in Kei Wah Court in North Point are already the prime choices of many applicant because of its location.

Located at a rare site next to the North Point Ferry Pier and not yet completed, Kei Wah is a three-minute walk from the North Point MTR station.

The 33-story, single-block development will offer 248 units ranging from 280 to 457 square feet.

About half of them will come with a sea view. Units four to seven on each floor will face Victoria Harbor, while units one, two, three and eight will have a view of the city.

The development is also home to the most expensive HOS flat being offered to date. The 457 sqf flat, located on the 32nd floor, carries a price tag of HK$5.31 million, which puts the flat's per-square-foot price at HK$11,618.

The cheapest flat at Kei Wah is a 298 sqf apartment on the third floor selling for HK$2.48 million, or HK$8,333 psf.

Yet a similarly sized flat on the 32nd floor of the block still costs over HK$10,000 psf.

Prospective homeowners with eyes on that flat will need to pay HK$2.84 million, or HK$10,014 psf, and that 284 sqf home has a city-facing outlook.

The area surrounding the development includes large shopping malls such as Harbor North and North Point Market.

It is also located near a number of residential complexes, including Victoria Harbor estate and Provident Center.

Overall in this round of sales, a quota allocation ratio of 40 to 60 percent has been put in place for green form and white form applicants, and 900 flats have been set aside for single applicants. And 2,700 are being reserved for families applying under the priority scheme for families with elderly members.

The maximum income limit for white form applicants will remain at HK$66,000 a month, with a HK$1.85 million asset limit.

The caps will be halved for single applicants.

Other options among the 8,926 subsidized flats include those at Kai Yan Court in Kai Tak, Kwun Shan Court in Ma Tau Kok, On Sau Court in Kwun Tong, Chiu Ming Court in Tseung Kwan O, Yu Tak Court in Sha Tin and Yu Nga Court in Tung Chung.

Units under the Housing Authority's HOS are sold at 51 percent of the assessed market value, ranging from HK$1.23 million for a 189 sqf flat in Kai Yan - at HK$6581 psf - to the prime sea view apartments at Kei Wah.

Kai Yan Court on Muk Lai Street in Kai Tak has 1,840 units on offer. Some units at the estate are being sold at per-square foot prices that cross the HK$10,000 threshold, rivaling the HK$5.31 million flat at Kei Wah.

Unit 15 on the 39th floor of Block B at Kai Yan, a 447 sqf flat, is priced at HK$4.79 million - or HK$10,706 psf.

The cheapest flat - unit 8 on the first floor of Block B - has a total area of 189 sqf. That is to be sold for HK$1.24 million, or HK$6,581 sqf.

The cheapest unit is the 15th unit on the first floor of Block A, with an area of 277 sqf, selling old for HK$1.3 million, or HK$4,680 psf.

Kai Yan, which is currently in development, has two lifts on the ground floor leading to the basement car park and Kai Tak's "underground shopping street."

The estate also has a children's play area as well as sustainability features including green roofs.

The cheapest unit at the Kai Tak estate is the 15th unit on the first floor of Block A, with an area of 277 sqf, selling for HK$1.3 million, or HK$4,680 psf.

The housing estate with the cheapest flats in this HOS phase is Yu Nga Court, located in the Tung Chung extension area where a total of 3,300 units are available for sale.

The largest units in this phase, which are also the most expensive at Yu Nga, have a usable area of 555 sqf.

They are unit 16 on the 29th floor of Block E, and unit 15 on the 29th floor of Block F. Both of them are 555 sqf and are priced at HK$3.54 million, or HK$6,388 psf.

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com