Hong Kong Home Sales Rose 92% in June

Hong Kong housing sales were on their way up in June

Lower home prices in Hong Kong seem to have rekindled buyer demand as figures showing a 92 percent increase in housing sales lead today’s collection of real estate headlines from around the region.

Despite the rebound in housing interest, shopping for smaller ticket items such as khaki pants and casual tops seems further over the horizon as casual clothing retailer Gap joins the retailers shrinking their footprints in Asia’s most expensive city and the recovering housing market on the mainland is also bringing a policy response in Hangzhou. Keep reading for all these stories and more.

Hong Home Sales Jump 92% in June

Sales of new flats in Hong Kong jumped to a 13-month high in June as developers stepped up marketing efforts and offered steeper discounts to woo buyers at a time of escalating US-China tensions and uncertainties over the coronavirus pandemic.

New home sales surged 92 per cent month on month to 2,136 units in June, short of the 2,314 units sold in May 2019, according to Land Registry data on Friday. The value of transactions rose for the fifth consecutive month to HK$70.59 billion (US$9.1 billion), which was also a 13-month high. Read more>>

Gap to Close Hong Kong Shops as Sales Sink

US clothing and accessories retailer Gap Inc has confirmed it will close five out of its eight stores in Hong Kong, becoming the latest international brand in Hong Kong to succumb to the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown.

The retailer will close its stores at Albion Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hysan Place in Causeway Bay, Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, and two outlets at shopping mall K11 in Tsim Sha Tsui, in July and August, Gap said in a written reply to the Post on Friday. Read more>>

Hangzhou Restricts Home Sales as Mainland Market Rebound

Hangzhou, China’s answer to Silicon Valley, has imposed new restrictions on property transactions after cheap credit and a relaxation of residency permits fed a demand surge.

In the first such curbs by a major city in China since the novel coronavirus outbreak began, Hangzhou’s government said people deemed as “high-end talent”, who have long enjoyed fewer restrictions, could not resell their homes for five years. Read more>>

Data Centre Surplus Grows in China’s Remote Regions

Remote Chinese provinces are building more data centres in deserts and isolated valleys to house powerful computers and servers, but with users scarce, many risk becoming high-tech ghost towns and digital bridges to nowhere.

Beijing is set to spend more than $400 billion this year on high-tech infrastructure, including data centres, as part of efforts to revive an economy hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic. Read more>>

CK Asset Lohas Park Project Keeps Up Sales Momentum

Hong Kong’s homebuyers turned out in droves for the second consecutive weekend to snap up the most expensive flats to launch in Lohas Park in two years, shrugging aside concerns about large financial commitments even after the enactment of a security law in the city.

CK Asset Holdings Limited, one of the city’s bellwether property developers, sold 200 flats, or 60 per cent of the 336 flats on offer at its Sea To Sky project, as of 6pm, according to sales agents. More than 10,000 people submitted bids at the launch, comprising 108 two-bedroom flats that start from HK$6.5 million (US$838,676) each, 203 three-bedroom flats and 25 four-bedroom apartments. Read more>>

Luckin Coffee Boss Survives Ouster Attempt

Charles Lu Zhengyao, the former billionaire co-founder of Luckin Coffee, survived an effort to oust him as chairman after directors failed to get enough votes. It was the latest surprising turn of events for the scandal-hit company once dubbed “the Starbucks of China”.

Meanwhile, Lu is set to make an exit from Car Inc., China’s largest car rental firm that he also founded, after SAIC Motor, China’s largest carmaker, agreed to buy a 29 per cent stake in the firm from a company he controls and an investment firm. Read more>>

Asian Investor Buys UK Student Housing Portfolio for £90M

Glasgow-based property developer London & Scottish Property Investment Management (LSPIM) has sold its first two luxury student property developments for £90 million.

The student housing division of LSPIM developed and sold the properties in Sheffield and Leeds, which are home to more than 700 students, on behalf of a US-based private investor.

The properties were marketed by Knight Frank and have been bought by an unnamed far eastern investor, who was represented by JLL and Savills. Read more>>

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