bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Pearl Liu

Young buyers eager to get on the property ladder can heave a sigh of relief as more flats priced under HK$4 million (US$510,341) are coming on the market.
Kowloon Development on Thursday released the price list for 130 of its 646-unit One East Coast residential project in Yau Tong, in Kowloon. And 10 of these were listed at under HK$4 million.
As homebuyers wait on the sidelines, builders tempt them with special mortgage rates, cash discounts
The units range from 201 square feet to 374 sq ft and are priced between HK$3.9 million and HK$7.7 million, with the average price working out to HK$19,913 per sq ft after discounts.
The flats open for subscription on Saturday.
“This is the lowest price in recent months and the developer is using such attractive pricing to lure buyers,” said Louis Chan, vice-chairman and chief executive of residential division for Asia-Pacific at Centaline Property Agency.


According to Chan, new home prices in Kowloon average over HK$20,000 per sq ft.
The last transaction for a flat under HK$4 million in the neighbourhood was in July when a 443 sq ft former public housing unit at the nearly 30-year-old Tak Tin Estate went for HK$3.9 million, according to transaction data.
Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties, said that it has been a long wait for buyers to find flats under HK$4 million.
“Most new flats coming on the market start from HK$6 million,” he said.
The average price of homes on the secondary market in the third quarter was HK$9 million, according to the latest data from Ricacorp.
Hong Kong home buying demand dampened by borrowing costs, trade war
Analysts see the HK$4 million pricing as important because the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation provides mortgage insurance schemes to help those who struggle to come up with the 30 per cent down payment on a home. The HKMC allows potential homebuyers to get a loan-to-value mortgage of 90 per cent on homes worth HK$4 million.
This means that buyers only need to put down an initial deposit of HK$390,000 for the cheapest units at Kowloon Development’s new project.
“Such flats are sought after by young buyers who have limited money for down payment and thus developers will put more such affordable flats on to the market to win over them,” said Sharmaine Lau, chief vice-president at mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services.




The growing pool of affordable flats comes amid the US-China trade war, rising mortgage rates, government measures to cool runaway property and forecasts from banks that predict Hong Kong’s economic growth will slow down this year. All these factors could hit demand and cause prices to fall.
In August, the price index of lived-in homes fell 0.6 point, marking their first decline since March 2016. Ricacorp meanwhile expects home prices to drop between 3 to 5 per cent in the last quarter.
On Wednesday, Standard Chartered downgraded its forecast for Hong Kong’s economic growth from 3.8 per cent to 3.6 per cent for 2018, citing the trade conflict and the likelihood of further interest rate rises.
Hong Kong, world’s most overvalued housing market, is at greatest risk of bubble, says UBS
Last Thursday 11 banks, with more than 74 per cent of Hong Kong’s mortgage loans between them, increased their lending, effectively pushing up the monthly repayments on home loans.
HSBC, for example, raised its lending rate by 12.5 basis points to 5.125 per cent.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is likely to announce land reclamation plans, which might hit immediate demand when she delivers her policy speech next Wednesday.


Prince Jewellery director sells upscale Hong Kong flat, upgrades to duplex

Box office bust? The show may be over for another Hong Kong cinema

‘Superman’ Li Ka-shing tops Hong Kong’s billionaire list with US$45.1 billion: Forbes

Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau’s kin sell Mid-Levels flat for US$12.8 million

Hong Kong property

Hard to find flats priced under HK$4m back on the market as developers court young buyers

Hong Kong’s property market is showing signs of slowing down as a slew of factors have caused prices to fall recently. Photo: AFP

Eager buyers lift Hong Kong property transactions to US$51.4b in the first half, but falls short of record

A general view of residential high-rise buildings at Kowloon district in Hong Kong. Photo: AFP

Efforts to suppress Hong Kong property prices have failed, Carrie Lam says

Chief executive-elect Carrie Lam says the focus needs to be on providing more public housing. Photo: David Wong

General view of Fu Heng Estate, Tai Po. 09DEC16 SCMP/Felix Wong

Fear of interest rate rise and high prices hit latest Hong Kong property sale

Buyers lining up at the sales office for Fleur Pavilia in Tsuen Wan. 12JUN18 SCMP / Edmond So

Fleur Pavilia luxury residential development, built by New World Development, in North Point, Hong Kong. 05JUN18. Handout.

Hong Kong property broker Centaline says upstarts like Snapflat are no match for its muscle power

People walk past a real estate agency on Austin Road in Kowloon. Photo: EPA

Hong Kong property market continues to follow a path of growth in 20 years since handover

graphic for online

Chow Chung Kong, chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (HKEx), left, and Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong's chief executive, strike a gong at the launch ceremony of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong, China on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. After months of anticipation, the Shenzhen's exchange link with Hong Kong will give foreign investors direct access to more than 800 stocks in China's southern financial hub, while adding more than 100 smaller Hong Kong equities to the potential buy lists of mainland traders. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

It takes an average Hong Kong family 15 years of their annual income to buy a home. Photo: Nora Tam