Hong Kong residents-only apartments sell out on first day

A China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. project restricted to Hong Kong residents sold out all 300 apartments on the first day, the company said, while two other developers launched new projects as prices rebounded from earlier this year.
China Overseas’ One Kai Tak project, located near the site of the former Hong Kong airport in Kowloon, was bought in a government land tender in 2013 for HKD4.5 billion (USD580 million), under an initiative known as “Hong Kong Property for Hong Kong People,” designed to prevent overseas buyers from bidding up prices.
Strong demand also fueled a sell out at Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.’s Grand Yoho project in the New Territories, where all 228 units found buyers over the weekend, the Ming Pao newspaper reported. A third development with 535 units offered by Chinachem Group at its Papillons project in Tseung Kwan O also went on sale at the weekend.
Based on prices after discounts, which were as high as 15.5 percent for some buyers, the 300 units at One Kai Tak generated sales of about HKD2.6 billion, China Overseas said. Yesterday, the company released a price list for an additional 100 units, ranging from HKD15,355 per square foot to HKD23,130 per square foot.
A gauge of property stocks advanced to a one-
year high in Hong Kong yesterday, with Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. and Sino Land Co. leading gains after rising 4.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. China Overseas rose 1.5 percent in Hong Kong trading.
Transactions rose to the highest level in at least 14 months in August to 5,821 units. Prices are 7.3 percent below their all-time high of last September, having fallen as much as 13 percent below their peak in March, according to an index of existing home prices compiled by Centaline Property Agency Ltd.
The One Kai Tak flats were priced between HKD15,080 and HKD18,418 per square foot before discounts, according to the property website, and ranged in size from 386 square feet to 833 square feet. Frederik Balfour, Bloomberg