Developers line up raft of projects for launch

June Chen

Developers in Hong Kong will be rolling out several new residential projects on the market in the Year of the Snake.

Chinachem Group plans to launch five residential projects this year, offering a total around 720 homes.

These include In One Above in Ho Man Tin, the newly named Whitesand Cove in Pak Sha Wan, Sai Kung, a project in Tai Po Kau, Victoria Coast in Pok Fu Lam, and University Heights in Mid-Levels.

In One Above is expected to begin a new round of sales for completed units this month.

Meanwhile, the luxury Whitesand Cove project may open its show flats for viewing as early as this month.

The Tai Po Kau development, comprising houses and apartments with 170 units in total, is expected to secure pre-sale approval within the year and could launch in the fourth quarter.

Henderson Land Development's (0012) second sales division plans to launch six new projects this year, offering over 3,700 homes.

Meanwhile, State Pavilia - the high-end residential project within New World Development's (0017) redevelopment of the historic State Theatre in North Point - will begin sales of at least 78 flats on its first price list as early as next week.

In primary market sales, Grand Seasons in Tseung Kwan O, co-developed by Wheelock Properties gained nearly HK$11 million by selling two homes yesterday. One of them is a 435-square-feet two-bedroom unit, which was sold for HK$6.24 million or HK$14,347 per sq ft.

In other news, the number of mortgages for presold homes rose for a second month to 396 in January, an increase of 23 percent from December, and reaching a three-month high.

However, the number of licensed estate agents in Hong Kong fell to 38,443 as of the end of January, down by 39 from the previous month, according to the latest data from the Estate Agents Authority.

This marks the ninth consecutive monthly decline and a seven-year low for the profession.

A total of 673 agents exited during the nine months.