Property Hunter Magazine September Issue 2014 | Page 108

/// International Property News

Studio Flat in Tai Po Sets Record for
Cheapest New Home in HK

Australia’s Residential Hotspots Revealed

residential use. We also secured lower
construction cost as the contract was
awarded several years ago.”
Buyers who opt for any threebedroom unit in Tower 6 would enjoy
the right to buy an additional studio
flat next door first.

INTERNATIONAL

Low land cost allows Cheung Kong to
price the 194 sqft unit at Mont Vert
below HK$2 million mark.
A studio flat at Mont Vert in Tai Po is
the cheapest new home available for
sale in Hong Kong, at HK$1.94 million,
according to the price list released by
Cheung Kong (Holdings) yesterday for
the first batch of units at the project.

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The flat has a saleable area of only
194 square feet, which works out
to HK$10,031 per square foot. The
smallest unit at the development, of
just 177 sqft, is not included in the
first batch.
Of the 260 units on offer, 43 are
studio flats, 20 are two-bedroom
units and 197 are three-bedroom
units. They are priced at HK$8,961 to
HK$11,162 per square foot, while the
going rates for second-hand flats in
the area are HK$8,310 to HK$10,334.
However, most of those flats are more
than 20 years old.

More Singapore Residents Have Trouble Selling Their Flats
The problem surfaced in the past
month. At Ms Lee’s Meet-the-People
Session, four residents asked for
more time to sell their flats, reported
Chinese evening daily Lianhe
Wanbao.
“They are mainly middle-aged and
older, mostly looking to downsize
their flat, but had been unable to
sell their old flat to fund their new
flat,” Ms Lee was quoted as saying.
“Without money, how can they get
the keys to their new flats?”

Is there an oversupply of flats? This
was a question raised by Nee Soon
GRC Member of Parliament Lee Bee
Wah recently, after she noticed that
many residents in her ward faced
problems selling their homes.
In a Facebook post, Ms Lee said
residents have approached her at

108

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Meet-the-People Sessions, saying
that their Build-To-Order (BTO) flats
are ready but they are unable to find
buyers for their current flats.
“Is this (a) sign of oversupply of flats?”
she asked.

She said there were residents
who did not even have a single
prospective buyer view their flat,
adding that all she could do is to help
them get an extension of time to sell
their flat.
Gan Thiam Poh, MP for Pasir RisPunggol GRC, also encountered two
to three such cases over the past
year and, on most occasions, he had
been able to get them a six-month
extension, Wanbao reported.

SLP International research head
Nicholas Mak did not think there is
an oversupply yet, but noted that
demand has definitely softened, with
flat prices expected to fall further.
So, sellers have to price their flats
ahead of the market, Mr Mak told My
Paper.
“From the buyer’s point of view, he
would want to buy at next month’s
price because by the time he gets
hold of the flat, its price would have
fallen more,” he said.
Lee Lay Keng, DTZ’s regional head
of research for South-east Asia, said
restrictions placed on permanent
residents and allowing singles to buy
BTO flats also contributed to the
drop in resale demand.
“Buyers will tend to take their time to
shop around, so sellers have to be
more flexible with their pricing,” said
Ms Lee.

The Mont Vert studio flats released
yesterday range from 194 to 195 sqft
and are priced between HK$1.94
million and HK$2.1 million each. After
discounts, which add up to as much
as 15 per cent, the lowest price for a
studio flat is HK$1.65 million.
“New flats selling for less than HK$2
million are almost impossible to find
in Hong Kong,” said Louis Chan Wingkit, managing director of Centaline
Property Agency’s residential
department.
The launch prices for Mont Vert were
the lowest for a new project in Tai Po,
industry observers said.
Justin Chiu Kwok-hung, an executive
director at Cheung Kong, said he was
told by property agents that prices at
the project were about 30 per cent
below transaction prices for other
new flats in the area.
“The stunning l