Hong Kong tax breaks spark condo sales at Henderson Land project

HENDERSON Land Development’s latest housing project has become a symbol of Hong Kong’s property sales rebound following government tax cuts.

Henderson sold more than 190 of the 208 apartments available at a Kowloon project known as Belgravia Place, the company said on Thursday (Mar 8). The units received more than 7,300 applications, meaning they were oversubscribed by about 34 times.

The developer, part of billionaire Lee Shau Kee’s property empire, offloaded 138 units at the same project in just four hours last weekend.

The city’s secondary home market is also seeing a recovery. The number of transactions in the 10 biggest estates rose to the highest in 61 weeks last weekend, according to Midland Realty, which tracks the data as a sentiment gauge for existing units.

The government last week took major steps to boost the lacklustre property market by loosening mortgage rules and removing extra taxes.

Non-residents and existing home owners now pay the same rate as Hong Kong residents. Owners can also sell their homes any time without paying a penalty. BLOOMBERG