HONG KONG: Home sales in both the primary and secondary markets fell in Hong Kong over the weekend, with property investors sitting on the sidelines as they weighed up large stock market fluctuations on the mainland and their effect in Hong Kong.
Property agents said investors were hesitant to enter the market amid signs of instability in the Hong Kong stock market due to the slump in A shares and the Greek debt crisis.
“The negative news will mostly affect sales of large-sized units as home-upgraders and investors will not rush to buy at the moment,” said Louis Chan Wing-kit, a managing director at Centaline Property Agency.
Chan estimated sales of first-hand flats plunged 50 per cent over the weekend due to the negative news and an absence of new launches by developers.
There were 40 units sold the previous weekend.
In the secondary market, there were 12 transactions clinched at the 10 housing estates tracked by Midland Realty on Saturday and Sunday, down from 17 transactions the previous weekend.
Among the new launches, a Mongkok residential development jointly owned by New World Development and the Urban Renewal Authority became the first victim of the shift in buyer sentiment, with a total of 40 units sold in the first two days of sale. The Skypark development will provide 439 units.
A price list for 100 units, from studios to one-bedroom and two-bedroom flats, was announced last week, with an average price after discounts of about HK$18,000 per square foot, and 272 people showed initial interest in buying.
New World Development said a total of 37 units were sold on the first day and three were sold yesterday.
Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive of Midland Realty’s residential department, said about 60 per cent of clients who had expressed interest in buying showed up at the Skypark development’s sales office on Saturday.
He said the project had attracted investors’ initial interest but some had hesitated in the wake of the stock market fluctuations this past week.
Chan said some of Centaline’s clients, who were mainlanders with permanent residency in Hong Kong, did not show up at the Skypark sales office on Saturday.
Agents expected home sales, especially in luxury sector, would be hit if stock markets in Hong Kong and on the mainland continue to slide.
The wealth effect of a bullish stock market recently had supported mass and luxury residential sales and price growth in Hong Kong.
According to the Land Registry, there were 7,993 units, including residential, commercial and industrial units, sold in June, representing 16.9 per cent month-on-month growth.
Among them, second-hand flat transactions rose 27.3 per cent month on month to 4,443 units.
However, first-hand unit sales fell 15.1 per cent month on month to 1,537.
