New home sales set to double: Wheelock

June Chen

The number of transactions in the primary market could double to 1,500 to 2,000 in October from a month ago, according to Wheelock Properties'managing director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu.

Wong also predicted home prices would advance slightly this quarter due to increased confidence in the market, saying Wheelock would speed up the pace to put more new projects on the market.

Wheelock and MTRC (0066) will put up 158 units of Park Seasons at Lohas for sale this Friday. Prices start from HK$4.53 million, or HK$14,059 per square foot.

Hong Kong saw 919 private residential units completed in August, down 42.8 percent from the previous month, according to data from the Rating and Valuation Department.

For the first eight months, a total of 9,622 private residential units were completed, accounting for only 43.2 percent of the government's target of 22,267 units for the whole year.

Market watchers warned earlier this year that a high inventory of new flats was a major factor keeping home prices under pressure.

The production included 5,610 newly finished flats or 58.3 percent in the New Territories, followed by 3,607 new homes or 37.5 percent in Kowloon in the first eight months. Hong Kong Island came last, with only 405 units built up to August 31.

Chinachem Group launched a new project, Echo House, yesterday. The project in Cheung Sha Wan offers 198 units with home style from one-bedroom flats to three-bedroom units. Sales brochure will be released this week.

In other news about the commercial property market, CBRE said the rents of offices in Hong Kong have dropped for 21 quarters in a row as of the third quarter this year, mainly due to high vacancy rate that has risen to 16.8 percent.

CBRE predicts the market may need seven to eight years to destock vacant offices and the rents could drop more than 5 percent in 2024 year-on-year, although the rental demand could revive with a bullish economic outlook for the rest of the year.

During the July-to-August quarter, the vacancy rate of retail stores in Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Central remained unchanged at 6.8 percent compared to the second quarter, although the rents rose by 1 percent quarter-on-quarter.

CBRE believes that consumption demands in the local retail market will continue to recover in the coming quarters, amid potential further rate cuts and policy easing, possible weakening of the Hong Kong dollar to benefit retail sales and continued recovery of China's economy.

The firm predicted the rents of retail stores in four core areas could record up to 5 percent year-on-year increase in 2024.