City Sees HK$56B of Property Sales in Jan and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, the city has sold HK$56.4 billion worth of properties in just 26 days in January. Also in the headlines, a Hong Kong property tycoon says the city’s real estate market will be dominated by local players, not their rivals from north of the border. And one of the city’s biggest building sellers is thinking of buying back his company.  All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.

Hong Kong Saw HK$56.4B in January Property Sales

Buyers paid more than HK$56.42 billion ($7.22 billion) on flats, shops, industrial units and car parking spaces in the first 26 days of 2018, the highest single monthly figure since 2015.

“People do not want to keep cash. They prefer betting on further rises in home prices,” said Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties. Chan attributed the sky-high increases to the wealth effect created by the recent stock rally. Read more>>

Ronnie Chan Says Mainland Players Won’t Control HK Market

More sophisticated local developers will dominate the city’s property market in the next five years, said Hang Lung Properties Chairman Ronnie Chan Chi-chung.”The Hong Kong real estate market is very unique,” Chan said, “it is not easy for outsiders to break into this market.”

The trend of mainland developers seizing lands in Hong Kong significantly slowed over the past few months as Beijing has stepped up efforts to rein in highly geared overseas deals. Read more>>

Vincent Lo in Talks with Banks Over Potential Shui On Privatisation

Vincent Lo, the chairman of developer Shui On Land, is considering privatizing his troubled property firm. Lo is talking to banks about financing, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. No “definite plans” had been determined, it added.

Lo, who controls 57 percent of the company, said in an interview earlier this month that taking the firm private was “a possibility.” Read more>>

Shop King Buys 8 Units for HK$120M in San Po Kong

Shophouse tycoon Tang Shing-bor bought eight units in the half-century-old Chinachem Industrial Mansion on 202 Choi Hung Road in San Po Kong, an industrial area in Kowloon East. Tang paid HK$120 million for the eight units.

Tang, who has purchased a unit in the building previously, now owns a more than 20 percent stake in the industrial building. Read more>>

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