Property deals soar over Lunar New Year holidays

Property sales in Hong Kong soared to eight- and ten-year highs in the primary and secondary markets respectively over the four-day Lunar New Year holiday.

New home sales doubled to an eight-year high with at least 32 transactions, compared to 14 over the same period last year. The market had recorded less than 20 deals from 2014 to 2020 over the four-day holiday.

In secondary sales, 10 major housing estates saw a 10-year high of six transactions compared to three over the same period last year, data of Centaline Property showed.

Among new home deals, Henderson Land Development (0012) sold a total of nine units, including five flats in Yuen Long, three in Quarry Bay, and one in Tai Kok Tsui.

Kerry Properties (0683) sold a luxury house with an area of 2,877 sq ft at HK$86.31 million, or HK$30,000 per sq ft, making it the biggest deal over the holidays.

And Sino Land (0083) sold a one-room special unit at Silversands in Ma On Shan, measuring 267 sq ft, with a 103-sq-ft terrace for HK$6.41 million or HK$24,000 per sq ft.

The developer has sold 40 homes at the project, cashing out more than HK$300 million.

Louis Chan Wing-kit, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency, expects the market to rebound after the Lunar New Year holidays as people rush to buy homes.

Many Hongkongers who were not able to travel abroad because of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions took advantage of the holidays to hunt for homes, according to a property broker. Some worried that prices would rebound once the pandemic eased, the broker added.

The market recorded 78,352 transactions in the recently ended Year of the Rat, up by around 8.48 percent year-on-year.

Derek Chan, head of research at property broker Ricacorp Properties, expects overall transactions to grow by 10 percent to the level of 86,300 deals by the end of the Year of the Ox.

He also expects prices to rise by 10 percent this year as capital keeps flowing into the market, on the back of continuing quantitative easing and low interest rates.

In other news, Chinachem is expected to launch sales of 68 units at Anderson Road in Kwun Tong this Saturday after previously releasing the price list with a discounted average price per sq ft of HK$20,363.