〈The Straits Times, April 28, 2018〉"Bidders likely came from end users rather than speculators because a logistics project is a long-term investment with long-term returns," said Thomas Lam, a senior director at real estate agency Knight Frank. "It isn't a mainstream property for speculation."

Analysts expected e-commerce operators as well as logistics firms to be among the bidders.E-commerce companies have been moving aggressively into developing logistics facilities amid a surge in online sales, forcing them to control costs and quality through setting up their own networks.

Tuen Mun is set to become an important location in Hong Kong when it is linked to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge that will connect the city to major industrial and commercial destinations in the Pearl River Delta on the mainland.

The bridge will also enhance Tuen Mun's link with Hong Kong International Airport.

Lam said he was optimistic that Tuen Mun would develop into an important logistics hub because of its strategic location, and estimated the price of the site would range from HK$3,000 to HK$3,500 per square foot.

Prices of industrial buildings in Tuen Mun and in many areas of the city have risen in the past few years because of strong demand.

For example, a 2,482 sq ft unit in Tuen Mun Industrial Centre sold for HK$5.3 million last Thursday, or HK$2,135 per square foot, rising 28.6 per cent from HK$1,660 per square foot in September 2016, according to Centa line Property Agency.

〈The Standard, April 28, 2018〉Hang Lung Properties (0101) chairman Ronnie Chan Chi-chung said he hopes home prices won't surge too quickly, especially for the smaller apartments, as it would impact citizens most.

It is never possible for Hong Kong to be a city with low property prices, he said, given that the SAR has very limited land resources.

As of the end of 2017, only 49.2 percent of local domestic households were owners of the quarters they occupied - the lowest level since 1999 - according to data released by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department this week.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority's recent interventions to maintain Hong Kong's currency peg with the US dollar have reduced local liquidity, and may prompt banks to raise mortgage rates.

It's expected the prime rate, which stood at 5 percent at major banks, will increase 50 basis points, to 5.5 percent this year, said Centaline Property Asia-Pacific's residential chief executive Louis Chan Wing-kit, who added this may help suppress the growth of home prices.

The one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate has climbed 10 consecutive days, hitting 1.3073 percent yesterday - the highest since 2008 -- up from 1.30051 percent the previous day.

Hong Kong's property prices have tripled since 1999, thanks to abundant liquidity and limited supply of apartments. The Centaline Property Centa-City Leading Index reached a record high of 179.9 last week.

〈Shanghai Daily, April 26, 2018〉THE Chinese mainland will continue to be a key growth engine for The Wharf (Holdings) Ltd as the Hong Kong specialist in high-end commercial and residential real estate development continues to cement its footprint aggressively across the country.

“The Chinese mainland and Hong Kong properties will still form the group’s backbone in the foreseeable future,” said Andrew Chow, deputy chairman of Wharf. “Since the second half of 2017, we have acquired 19 land plots in major Chinese cities including Suzhou, Hangzhou, Beijing, Guangzhou and Foshan with total investment reaching 28 billion yuan (US$4.42 billion).”

Hong Kong-listed Wharf has adopted a selective strategy in land acquisition for development properties on the Chinese mainland, and targets Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Guangzhou as its six key cities, Chow said.

Seven high-end residential projects are scheduled to be launched in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou this year. The company’s single largest investment project on the Chinese mainland, Changsha IFS, a 20-billion-yuan, 1-million-square-meter mixed-use development, will be unveiled early next month in the capital of Hunan Province.

〈Asian Post, April 25, 2018〉Office rents in Tsim Sha Tsui are expected to rise as an ample supply of space and vastly improved transport links make the area the top choice of mainland technology firms, analysts said.

They said a dearth of space in the main Central business district was making Tsim Sha Tsui more attractive, and this year could see a wave of new-economy companies from the mainland set up shop there.We expect office rents in TST will jump 6 per cent this year \u2026 and it will be the rising star in office supplies in the city in the coming yearsDaniel Shih, Colliers International Hong KongThe opening of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link later this year, which will cut journeys to Shenzhen by two-thirds to 20 minutes, is likely to have a strong effect on rents.

"We expect more mainland companies, particularly those from the Greater Bay Area, will choose Tsim Sha Tsui to set up their offices after the launch of the express rail link," said Daniel Shih, a director of research at Colliers International Hong Kong.

"We expect office rents in Tsim Sha Tsui will jump 6 per cent this year, and it will be the rising star in office supply in the coming years."

The Greater Bay Area refers to the central government's plan to forge an integrated business hub linking Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province.

〈Asian Post, April 25, 2018〉Hong Kong home prices are expected to rise further over the next 12 months, prompting most Hongkongers to defer their purchases, according to a Citibank survey.

Its poll showed 64 percent of respondents took the view that local home prices would continue rising over the next 12 months, while 69 percent thought that it would not be a good time to acquire any property at this time.

Meanwhile, YOO Studio has offered for sale via tender its residential project, yoo 18 BONHAM, in MidLevels West. It set an indicative price of HK$1.38 billion for the sale, with Centaline Property Agency as sole marketing agent. The property provides 12 flats, ranging in size from 1,228 square feet to 3,721 sq ft, and it also has 12 car parking spaces.

Centaline Property Asia-Pacific residential chief executive Louis Chan Wing-kit said 410 sale and purchase transactions were recorded in Hong Kong's first-hand market this month. He predicted local home prices to go up by about 10 percent this year.

Henderson Land (0012) unveiled over the weekend its NOVUM EAST project in Quarry Bay. A 214-sq-ft flat at the project costs HK$5.37 million or HK$25,117 per sq ft. The project will provide 28 flats, measuring between 214 sq ft and 297 sq ft. Eighteen units are studios and 10 are one-bedroom flats.

In the secondary market, Patrick Tse-yin sold a 1,939-sq-ft flat at the Somerset in Repulse Bay to his son Nicholas Tse Ting-fung for HK$85 million or HK$43,837 per sq ft, according to Land Registry records.