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Property News Weekly Digest
2022/9/3
〈The Standard, Sept 2, 2022〉The pace of applications for pre-sale consents by developers has accelerated in recent months.

And the speed of releasing pre-sale consents by the Lands Department has also been moving faster compared with the period during the early days of the fifth wave of the pandemic.

The total number of flats approved for presale but not yet listed has exceeded 7,800 units - up more than 1.6 times from six months ago when there were only about 3,000 units.

Among them, most are located in the new development area at Kai Tak, where four projects have been approved for pre-sale but still need to be put up for sale. Their combined total of nearly 3,000 flats constitute the largest concentration in all districts of Hong Kong.

Of these, Miami Quay at 23 Shing Fung Road, jointly developed by Wheelock Properties, Henderson Land (0012), New World Development (0017) and Empire Group Holdings, has seen two phases approved for presale, involving 1,219 units.

〈The Standard, Sept 1, 2022〉Competition among developers is intensifying, with nearly 2,200 units from four new projects ready for launch this month with the worst of the fifth pandemic wave looking to be over.

For the second quarter, more than 5,200 flats could be launched and industry experts said developers will have to accelerate sales as they have deferred new project launches since the fifth wave hit in the past three months.

At Kai Tak this month, Wheelock Properties and Henderson Land Development are expected to begin a rare head-to-head race for potential buyers with a combined 860 units.

Wheelock Properties's Monaco Marine at Kai Tak will launch a second round of sales today, with 112 flats ranging from 326 to 713 square feet.

〈Hong Kong Business, Aug 30, 2022〉The property market’s woes have bled into bidding interest for government tender sites, with all tendered sites this year selling just within or below market expectations, according to JLL’s Hong Kong Residential Sales Market monitor.

JLL expects the developers will remain conservative in land bidding over the short term.

With the weak sentiment in the land market expected to linger, the government should look into adjusting its reserve prices accordingly or risk more unsuccessful tenders, warned Norry Lee, senior director of projects strategy and consultancy department at JLL.

“The several land sales this year achieved below or near the lower end of market expectations suggested that developers had turned more cautious in land bidding,” Lee noted in the report.

In July, the Land Department awarded the residential site on Hospital Road in Sai Yung Pun to K. Wah for HK$551m. The price, which equates to HK$12,821 psf, is 1.3% below the lower end of market expectations.

〈Asian Post, Aug 29, 2022〉As several sizable spaces became available due to the traditional low season, overall Grade A office vacancy climbed to 9.6% in July.

According to JLL, vacancy rates also edged up in all sub-markets, except in Kowloon East, where vacancy slightly dropped to 12.6% from 12.8% in June.

In Central, Wanchai, Hong Kong East, and Tsimshatsui vacancy rose from 7.9% to 8.2%, 9.0% to 9.5%, 8.9% to 9.0%, and 10.2% to 11.1%, respectively.

In the next few months, JLL said leasing activities will likely improve. The expert added that if quarantine measures are removed completely, there will be a breakthrough demand in the office leasing market.

Meanwhile, the Grade A office market recorded net absorption of 217,000 sq ft in July, declining 0.1% MoM, due to the completion of a government building in Kai Tak.

〈CNBC, Aug 28, 2022〉China's real estate troubles could spill into other major sectors if the problems persist — and three particular businesses are most vulnerable, according to ratings agency Fitch.

Since last year, investors have worried that Chinese property developers' financial problems could spread to the rest of the economy.

"If timely and effective policy intervention does not materialise, distress in the property market will be prolonged and have effects on various sectors in China beyond the property sector's immediate value chain," Fitch analysts said in a report Monday.

Under such a stress scenario, Fitch analyzed the impact over the next 12 to 24 months on more than 30 kinds of businesses and government entities.