Wheelock set for Kai Tak takeoff

Kevin Xu

Wheelock Properties opened show flats for Monaco in Kai Tak today and plans to launch sales next week.

The developer will release the first price list today. Monaco is expected to be the first new project to kick off sales in the primary market this year. The project offers 399 units, ranging from 280 to 760 square feet.

In the same district, Henderson Land Development (0012) applied for presale consent for the second phase of 7 Muk Tai Street Project, which will offer 301 units.

The Lands Department issued a total of 33 presale consents for residential developments involving 12,898 residential units in 2020.

In Cheung Sha Wan, Vanke Property (Hong Kong) released 47 units in the fifth price list of The Campton on Thursday, at an average price of HK$19,511 per sq ft after discounts, 18.88 percent higher than the first price list. The cheapest flat, measuring 272 sq ft, is offered at HK$5.14 million, or HK$18,908 per sq ft after discounts.

In Tseung Kwan O, two homebuyers forfeited deposits of about HK$1.05 million and HK$906,700, after canceling the purchase of flats at Malibu in Lohas Park.

The HK$1.05 million forfeiture concerned a 559-sq-ft flat, which was priced at HK$10.55 million, while the HK$906,700 forfeiture was over a 548-sq-ft unit, which was offered at HK$9.06 million.

Meanwhile, the number of completed private flats was 4,392 in November, a near two-year high, according to the data from the Rating and Valuation Department.

In the secondary market, a 451-sq-ft flat at City One Shatin was sold for HK$6.38 million, or HK$14,146 per sq ft. The seller, who bought the flat for HK$2.62 million in 2010, will earn a capital gain of HK$3.76 million.

In the commercial property market, Midland IC&I (0459) expects vacancy rates for street-level shops in four core business districts - Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Central and Mong Kok - to rise by 13 to 14 percent in the first quarter from 12.6 percent in the third quarter last year.

Shop rents at the core areas will increase 10 to 15 percent this year, Midland IC&I said.

The number of transactions in the commercial property market plunged 18 percent year on year to 3,830 last year, the lowest since 1996, Midland IC&I said.

Lofter Group founder Carol Chow Pui-yin bought a shop at Ki Lung Street in Prince Edward for HK$40 million.

The one-month Hong Kong interbank offered rate, which is linked to the mortgage rate, fell to 0.133 percent yesterday.