Hong Kong property giant buys land priced at 8-year low
A LEADING Hong Kong developer has won a bid for land in a traditionally expensive area for the lowest price in eight years, in another sign of the city’s weakening real estate market.
Tycoon Victor Li’s CK Asset Holdings won the site designated for residential and commercial use in Kai Tak, the former airport area, for HK$8.7 billion (S$1.5 billion), the government said on Wednesday (Dec 21). The bid translates to HK$6,138 per square foot, the lowest since 2014, according to Midland Holdings.
On top of high construction costs, “investment sentiment in recent months has made developers more cautious in bidding”, said Alvin Lam, a director at the surveyor unit of Midland. Lam previously valued the property at HK$14.9 billion, more than 70 per cent higher than the transaction price.
Kai Tak – once the city’s only commercial airport for much of the 20th century – has been the hottest new development area in the past decade. Builders, especially those from the mainland including HNA Group, made headlines just a few years ago for splurging on land at record-breaking prices.
Interest rate hikes and diminished demand are weighing on Hong Kong’s property market, with home prices dropping more than 14 per cent this year. The slump is also hurting the finances of the city’s government, which relies on land sales for a significant amount of its revenue.
In the 2019 to 2020 year, Hong Kong raked in HK$141.7 billion from land sales, accounting for 24 per cent of total revenue. But it has generated just HK$24.6 billion during this financial year, which ends in March.
Hong Kong may report a financial deficit of almost double the budget estimate due to a sluggish economy and higher government spending during the pandemic, the city’s financial secretary has said.
CK Asset plans to build small and medium-sized apartments atop the plot, which yields a maximum of about 1.4 million square feet of floor area. BLOOMBERG
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
