Wheelock and Company (0020) won the bid for the Lohas Park Phase 12 plot in Tseung Kwan O, and Centaline Property Agency expects prices of completed properties at the project to start from HK$15,000-16,000 per square foot.

MTR Corporation (0066) announced the result yesterday, one day after ending the tender submissions on Tuesday.

Nine developers submitted tenders for Phase 12 of Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O on Tuesday, including Henderson Land Development (0012), CK Asset (1113) and Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016).

MTRC is asking for a land premium of HK$2.7 billion, or HK$2,835 per square foot, for the project, according to reports.

The per square foot price was 10 percent lower than the land premium of HK$3,194 per sq ft of the phase 11 of Lohas Park, which was won by Sino Land (0083), K Wah International (0173) and China Merchants Land (0978) last April.

Meanwhile, Midland Holdings (1200) chairman Freddie Wong Kin-yip expects the number of property transactions to fall 30 percent month-on-month in February, as market sentiment has turned sour due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The number of private residential property transactions in Hong Kong fell 5 percent month-on-month to 613 in January, the lowest in 13 months, with the total consideration plunging 34 percent month-on-month to HK$7.28 billion, according to Ricacorp Properties. However, Derek Chan, Ricacorp Property's head of research, expects private residential property transactions to rally in February, as some registrations last month had to be delayed to February due to the epidemic.

In the secondary market, a 910-sq-ft flat at Whampoa Garden was available for HK$16 million after the owner cut HK$2 million from the original asking price.

In the commercial property market, a 3,000-sq-ft street shop at Cannon Street in Causeway Bay was rented for HK$300,000 per month, after HK$150,000 was cut from the original asking rent.

In the capital market, the overall Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate continued a pullback on Wednesday. The one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate, which is linked to the mortgage rate, fell to 2.01 percent, a two-week low.

MTRC is said to be asking for a land premium of HK$2.7 billion for the project. SING TAO

Wheelock wins bid for Lohas Park Phase 12