Since the removal of all the cooling measures on February 28, the transactions of first-hand property have been increasing. By the end of March, the total transactions will reach three thousand five hundred. The property outlook is thriving. In mid of March, there were three hundred and thirty-six units of “Uptown East” being put up for sale at low price. It was unexpected that this batch of units could not be sold out completely. It is still uncertain whether the market is fully reviving or not.
In the second-hand property market, the weekly transactions of top ten residential estates were reduced from 110 units to eighty-seven units. The sales price of first-hand property is low, and it will restrain the number of transactions of second-hand property. The first batch of 336 units of Kowloon's new flat of “Uptown East” has been launched for sales under the market price. The developer of Wheelock Properties initiated a price war against Uptown East by opening for sale of its new flat “Seasons Palace” at a lower price of HK$ 14400 per square foot. The sale of "Uptown East” coincided with a strong rivalry, and its remaining six hundred units are difficult to be sold soon.
The share price of listing property agency of Miland property surged one time after the removal of all the cooling measures. However, its share price declined by more than twenty per cent since then. The cancellation of cooling measures had a positive impact on the amount of transactions, but it did not have the same effect on the share price. Besides, the shares prices of most of the listing property firms have been hovering at recent 52-week lows.
The recent shares prices’ rebound of listing property firms lasted less than two weeks. The statistics indicate that the transactions of first-hand property will reach 3,500 units in March. The units in April will be reduced to 2500. Until May, the transactions will fall to 1500 units. In total, the transactions of first half year will reach 8500 units including the 1000 units of the first two months. The property experts expect that the transactions will achieve 6,000 units in the second half of this year, and the total transactions of the entire year will rise to 14500 units.
This rebounded market may end in the mid-year. The unsold units of last year are about 20000 units, and the new supply of this year will add another 20,000 units to the inventory. If the absorption units of this year are only 14,500, the supply and demand is severely unbalanced. The probability that the transaction and the price will fall together is 70% in the second half of this year. Starting from third quarter, the price will decrease further.