The coronavirus outbreak has further dampened demand for car parking spaces, with transactions falling 63.5 percent month on month in February and more loss-making resales recorded.
The number of parking space registrations plunged by 63.5 percent to 226, a five-month low, and total consideration was down by 74.1 percent month on month to a four-year-low of HK$393 million, said Hong Kong Property chief executive Richard Lee Chi-shing.
Some investors are rushing to sell parking spaces amid Covid-19 concerns to save money, as unlike residential properties, they are a luxury rather than a necessity, said Midland IC&I's chief executive Daniel Wong Hon-shing.
This came after months of social unrest punctured the bubble in the lucrative market amid an economic slowdown and a decline in home prices. Louis Chan Wing-kit, Centaline Asia-Pacific residential chief executive, expects property prices to fall 3 to 5 percent this year.
In Tsing Lung Tau, an investor sold a parking space at Hong Kong Garden for HK$580,000, resulting in a 37 percent loss of HK$335,000 after holding onto it for one year.
The average rent of parking spaces at Hong Kong Garden fell by about 18 percent to around HK$1,400, according to Centaline Property Agency.
In the New Territories, a vendor incurred a loss of HK$370,000, or 33 percent, after offloading a parking lot at Shatin Centre for HK$750,000.
Meanwhile, a parking space in Garden Rivera changed hands for HK$800,000 - about 30 percent lower than the HK$1.15 million the seller paid four years ago.
Another parking space at the same estate fetched HK$910,000. The selling price was 16 percent lower than the vendor's purchasing price of HK$1.08 million in 2016.
In Ma On Shan, the asking price for a parking space at Monte Vista dropped by about 11 percent to HK$1.42 million, according to Century 21.
Parking bays for vehicles emerged as an alternative option for investors due to a shortage of land for homes and car parks.
The ratio of parking spaces to private vehicles in Hong Kong was 1.1 in 2018, down 27.2 percent from 1.51 in 2006, while the number of private cars surged by 53.4 percent to 616,220 during the same period, the Audit Commission said in a report in April.
"Objectively speaking, it is virtually impossible for the government to continuously increase car park spaces to catch up with the growth in the number of vehicles," Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan said in November.
A parking space at Kingswood Villas in Tin Shui Wai sold for HK$1.46 million in mid-May, 106 percent higher than the HK$710,000 it was sold for four years ago.
In October, investor Cheung Shun-yee sold a parking space at The Center in Central for HK$7.6 million, which was a record even after HK$400,000 was cut from the original asking price, The Standard's sister paper Sing Tao Daily reported.
Cheung also sold another parking space at The Center for HK$6.3 million in June to Yip Mow-lum, the chairman of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities.
kevin.xu@singtaonewscorp.com
