Aiden He
Wheelock Properties unveiled its first price list of Monaco One in Kai Tak, offering 99 flats at an average discounted price of HK$23,365 per square foot.
The price came in at 3 percent higher than the first batch of the sister project Monaco in the same district launched early this year, but 17 percent lower compared to that of Henderson Land Development's (0012) The Henley III in August.
The batch comprises 49 one-bedroom units, 34 two-bedroom units and 16 three-bedroom units with saleable areas ranging from 319 sq ft to 671 sq ft.
The cheapest flat - a 319-sq-ft one-bedroom unit - is priced at HK$7.57 million after discounts, or at HK$23,724 per sq ft.
The prices of future batches may be at least 10 percent higher and the developer will start receiving checks Saturday, managing director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu said, adding that the sales are expected to launch in mid-November.
This came as data from the Lands Department revealed that eight new residential projects filed an application for pre-sale consent in October, involving 5,378 flats.
Among the new applicants, a project on Hang On Street which is co-developed by the Urban Renewal Authority and Lai Sun Group has been named as Bal Residence.
The project will provide 156 homes upon completion and Lai Sun previously said more than 90 percent of them will be one-bedroom units.
Together with the ones applied in the previous months, 29 projects with 14,662 flats altogether were pending approval as of the end of last month.
The department only granted three pre-sale consents covering 1,221 units in the month, down around 60 percent from 2,966 units in September.
Meanwhile, there were 602 private homes completed in September in the city, up 18.5 percent month-on-month, reversing a three-month downward trend, data from the Rating and Valuation Department showed.
A total of 11,168 private residential units were completed in the first nine months of this year, accounting for 61.3 percent of the government's estimation of 18,228 units.
Class B units, which range from 40 square meters to 69.9 sq m, took up more than half of the built flats, followed by Class A units with salable areas less than 40 sq m which accounted for nearly 30 percent of the total.
Monaco One will launch sales mid-November. SING TAO
