A residential project in Yau Tong triggered buying euphoria on Saturday, with more than 70 per cent of the 150 units on offer snapped up by midafternoon amid heightened expectations for a recovery in Hong Kong's home market next year.
The flats at One Park Place, priced between HK$4.23 million (US$543,684) and HK$9.51 million, were in high demand after developers Sino Land, CSI Properties and MTR Corporation offered discounts of up to 15 per cent to lure buyers.
The strong homebuying interest came a day after New World Development (NWD) sold out all 63 units at its Austin Bohemian project in Yau Ma Tei on Friday.
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As of 6.45 pm, 110 units of One Park Place were sold, according to Sino Land.
"The units appeared to be attractive not only to residents who wanted to own them for self-use, but buyers looking to own them for investment purposes," said Sammy Po Siu-ming, senior director at Midland Realty. "Since the rent is estimated at HK$50 per sq foot per month, the annualised investment return could reach 4 per cent."
Po said one client of Midland shelled out HK$25 million to purchase five units.
The One Park Place flats were originally scheduled to be offered on November 28, two days after a deadly fire broke out in the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, but developers postponed the sale as the city focused on rescue and relief operations.
About 60 per cent of the flats, measuring from 293 sq ft to 578 sq ft, would be for self-use, according to Po.
Hong Kong home prices are likely to see an uptick of 5 per cent in 2026, buoyed by demand from mainland Chinese buyers, interest rate cuts and fewer unsold new flats, according to analysts.
The stamp duty adjustment and Hong Kong's resurgent stock market were also expected to help sustain stability in the city's residential property market, executives with JLL and Cushman & Wakefield said recently.
The city's residential market has experienced seven years of volatility, as prices hit a peak in July 2018, declined and then climbed back to another peak in September 2021, after which they fell nearly 30 per cent, according to official data.
Lived-in home prices were down as much as 28.4 per cent in March this year from their peak in September 2021. That slump came amid elevated inventory levels, which required 101.6 months to clear in 2023 and 67.4 months in 2024.
With home sales up by more than a fifth on an annual basis as of November, unsold inventory had declined, according to JLL.
It said the unsold inventory would equal 51.3 months' worth of supply by the end of this year, which was the average level from 2015 to 2021.
The units at NWD's Austin Bohemian, measuring between 212 sq ft and 380 sq ft, were the city's first batch of homes that were fully sold out on their debut this year.
They had price tags of between HK$4.92 million and HK$10.17 million, at a maximum discount of 20 per cent. Of the buyers, more than 70 per cent opted to make immediate payment, NWD said.
The largest single buyer spent nearly HK$58 million to purchase nine units, while the priciest transaction translated to about HK$27,000 per square foot.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) , the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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