Ming Wah Dai Ha redevelopment project was found using substandard steel
Steel problems carried a housing redevelopment project in Hong Kong’s Sau Kei Wan area into the news this week as a subcontractor was found to have used substandard rebar on the 4,000 unit government subsidised project. Also in the headlines, continued rapid home sales despite record prices may have led developer K Wah International to set prices for its new project in Tai Po at 24 percent above market rates in the New Territories neighbourhood, and the city’s retail blues may be fading away as sales of retail properties rose 25 percent in April. All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.
Sau Kei Wan Project Found Using Substandard Steel
The head of Hong Kong’s second-largest public housing provider on Thursday moved to dispel safety fears after a scandal at a redevelopment project where a contractor was found using substandard steel.
Housing Society chief executive Wong Kit-loong’s comments came a day after it was revealed that a subcontractor helping redevelop Ming Wah Dai Ha residential estate in Shau Kei Wan had used steel bars weighing a total of 7.5 tonnes before completion of strength tests. Preliminary results had shown some bars from the batch of 20 tonnes did not meet safety standards. Read more>>
K Wah Sets 24% Price Premium at Tai Po Apartments Solaria
K Wah International Holdings, the first developer to start selling in a massive 3,000-unit community in northeastern Hong Kong, has set a 24 percent price premium for its Solaria apartments at Tai Po’s Pak Shek Kok, confident in its belief that the higher price won’t deter millennial buyers eager to get their hands on a home before the city’s mortgage rates start rising.
The first 225 apartment of the 1,122-unit Solaria project will start at HK$4.62 million (US$589,000) for a 225 square-feet (21 square metres) studio, or HK$16,498 per square foot after an 18.5 percent discount, the developer said. A larger, three-bedroom unit is listed at HK$13.92 million after discounts. Read more>>
Shop Transactions Reached HK$3.8B in April, up by 25%
The city recorded 155 shop transactions in April, up by 2 percent from the previous month. The amount of transactions climbed 25 percent month-on-month to HK$3.8 billion in the period. A significant transaction recorded last month was the HK$754 million sale of the retail and carpark portion of One Island South in Wong Chuk Hang.
Low unemployment rate of 2.8 percent and recovering tourism have boosted retail sales, which drove growth in the transaction volume, Ricacorp, a realtor in Hong Kong. Read more>>
SHKP Sells 20 Units in North Point Project For HK$2B
Sun Hung Kai Properties said yesterday it had sold 20 homes at Victoria Harbour in North Point for a total of HK$2 billion. SHKP said the homes were sold at prices ranging from HK$50 million to HK$100 million, adding that it will launch the pre-sales of smaller apartments in the towers in the third quarter of the year.
The luxury project provides 355 apartments in five towers, ranging from 300-square-foot studios to 1,600-sq-ft four bedroom apartments. The development is located near North Point Ferry Pier and bus terminus, on the site of the former North Point Estate, the Eastern District’s largest public housing estate that comprised seven 11-story blocks with a total of 1,956 flats. Read more>>
Think Tank Urges Govt to Set Aside 70% Land for Subsidised Housing
At least 70 percent of land eyed for new flats in the next decade should be used for public and subsidised properties if the Hong Kong government wants to rally support for controversial ideas to ease the city’s housing crisis, including working with private developers, a think tank has urged.
Land Watch, which met members of the government-appointed Task Force on Land Supply on Thursday, said it generally supported most of the 18 options put forward by the official body for a five-month public consultation which began last month. Read more>>
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