Villa Garda II, phase 11C at Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O, sold 124 out of 168 flats as of 2 pm yesterday afternoon.

The project together with the first phase, which are both co-developed by Sino Land (0083), K Wah International (0173) and China Merchants Land (0978), sold 592 flats, or 92 percent of the total, raking in over HK$5 billion.

This came as the increased supply of flats pushed landlords to cut rents to attract tenants, with some seeing rental returns falling to 1.6 percent at Ocean Marini at Lohas Park.

The rent of an 813-square-foot three-bedroom unit at Ocean Marini 1A was cut to HK$23,500 a month, a reduction of HK$2,500 or 9.6 percent, equivalent to 28.9 yuan per sq ft, according to Midland

The landlord bought the flat in April 2021 for HK$14.1 million, the agent said. The return was about 2 percent based on the current rent but if the landlord pays the management fees, the returns come down to about 1.6 percent, the agent added.

In the secondary market, seven deals were recorded in 10 blue-chip housing estates, according to Centaline Property Agency, a 12 percent decline compared to a week earlier.

Even though the market is worried about the US interest rate hike at the end of this month, the demand for housing is still large, said Louis Chan Wing-kit, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman of the residential division, adding that price reductions in the secondary market attracted buyers to enter the market.

Its rival, Midland Realty, chalked up eight transactions at 10 major housing estates it tracks in the secondary market over the weekend, an 11 percent decrease compared to the previous weekend.

Buyers queue up for Villa Garda II. Sing Tao

Strong demand for Lohas Park flats