MTRC invites tenders for Tung Chung site

The MTR Corporation (0066) yesterday initiated the tender process for phase one of the Tung Chung East Station project that had received 32 expressions of interest earlier, with an estimated value in the range of HK$1.57 billion to HK$3.13 billion, or HK$2,000 to HK$4,000 per square foot.

Developers will have until November 9 to submit tenders for the phase one of the Tung Chung East Station Property Development.

As of Last Friday, MTR Corporation had 32 expressions of interest from developers and consortia.

The project is situated across from the MTR Tung Chung East Station that is being built as part of the Tung Chung Line Extension.

Planned for completion in 2029, the project is due to be developed by phases.

The initial phase, known as Package One, sits in the southeast section of the development, encompassing a residential gross floor area of around 696,000 square feet and expected to provide 800 to 1,000 flats.

The tender for the project does not include land premium arrangement and the winner will be required to pay a fee of approximately HK$1.1 billion upfront.

James Cheung King-tat, executive director of Centaline Surveyors, believes the advantageous location and moderate scale of the project will be attractive to developers for them to engage in the tender process.

The development is expected to provide mainly small to medium-sized flats in line with market demands.

Meanwhile, revenues from stamp duties plunged 48.8 percent to HK$1.19 billion quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter with the number of property transactions slumping 24.9 percent to 553 during the period, according to Inland Revenue Department data.

In the first nine months, stamp duties generated a total of HK$5.19 billion, marking a 5.2 percent rise from a low base of the period last year. The number of cases involving double stamp duty fell 34 percent monthly to a record low of 86 last month.

Morgan Stanley predicted local property prices to decline further, averaging a drop of 3 percent by the year-end before extending to 5-10 percent next year.