Hong Kong homebuyers left cold by prices in far-flung tech hub

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong’s ambitious plan to create a technology hub near the mainland Chinese border faces an early test after the first residential sales in its Northern Metropolis got off to a middling start, highlighting the hurdles to turning the area into a new economic engine.

The tepid response to a new home launch in the far-flung development, which authorities hope to transform into a residential and high-tech hub for 2.5 million people, follows a drop in the city’s home sales in July.

The relatively high selling prices in the hinterland area could also weigh on buyer interest ahead of other launches in that area, according to analysts.

Wheelock Properties is selling the first batch of homes at its Park Silicon project in Kwu Tung in Northern Metropolis, at an average price of more than HK$17,000 (US$2,167) per square foot.

This nearly matches prices at new developments in more urban areas such as West Kowloon. Wheelock sold 56 of the 100 apartments on offer on Aug 16, the debut day, the company said in a statement.

A lot is at stake in the multibillion-dollar Northern Metropolis project, which spans roughly one-third of Hong Kong’s territory and covers a long-overlooked region bordering Shenzhen.

Authorities aim to transform the rural frontier of fish ponds, farmland and villages into a tech area filled with cutting-edge labs and startups.

First introduced in 2021 as a solution to the city’s housing shortage, the development is also intended to deepen Hong Kong’s physical and economic links with mainland China.

Home prices at Northern Metropolis will ultimately depend on whether it can succeed in attracting enough residents, jobs, and cross-border activity to absorb its large housing pipeline, said Kathy Chan, an analyst at Morningstar.

SEE ALSO

Hong Kong developers are sceptical about ambitious tech hub

Hong Kong’s student housing crisis spurs bank lending boom

Investors home in on Singapore co-living, Hong Kong student housing in Apac’s US$13.8 billion living boom

The city’s top developers are offering more than 2,100 flats across three projects in Kwu Tung. Park Silicon hosts a total of 781 units in two phases.

Upcoming projects include 682 units from North Innovale by Henderson Land Development expected to go on sale in weeks, and another 642 homes from a Sun Hung Kai Properties development, which is applying for pre-sale consent from authorities.

The average selling price of Wheelock’s Park Silicon project seems “aggressive at first sight” as the Kwu Tung area will not have full metro connectivity until 2034, while buyers are those betting on the long-term potential, said Chan.

Local firms have grown more sceptical on the mega development in recent years, with a land sale in the area drawing only two bids in 2026.

The higher-than-expected selling prices partly reflect the steep land costs developers paid in 2021, near the peak of Hong Kong’s property market.

Wheelock outbid 11 builders and paid some 7 per cent above the top end of estimates, according to media reports. The property sector subsequently slid into a prolonged downturn amid a slowing economy and high interest rates, before a revival began in 2025.

Still, a recent clampdown by Beijing on mainland Chinese citizens’ offshore stock trading and insurance policies poses a growing risk.

Mainland buyers have become a key source of demand for Hong Kong homes, accounting for about half of first-hand residential sales by value.

“Interest rate uncertainty and tighter cross-border investment controls could limit further house price appreciation,” Mark Leung, Greater China property research analyst for UBS Group, wrote in a report in August. BLOOMBERG