Developers’ hoard of empty flats aggravates Hong Kong’s housing crisis. Will a tax fix it?
Hong Kong builders stockpile thousands of flats as they look for higher prices
Close to 300 flats lie disturbingly vacant in a completed new residential development in Ho Man Tin, even as the Hong Kong government struggles to resolve the perennial short supply of housing in the world’s most expensive property market.
The 1,429-unit Mantin Heights project in Ho Man Tin was completed last year, but the developer, Kerry Properties, still hangs on to a fifth or about 300 completed flats, offering them in small numbers either through private tender or public sales.
About 1,130 units had been sold as of April 7, according to figures available from the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority website, which regulates the sales of new flats.
Kerry Properties has released some 96 sales at Mantin Heights, with just one unit offered for tender on several occasions since it went on sale in 2016.
“It is the largest number of sales arrangement in a project I have ever seen,” said Sammy Po Siu-ming, the chief executive of Midland Realty’s residential department. “By releasing a small number of units each time, it has been effective in generating strong sales response which has allowed it to raise prices and maximise profit.”
Po noted that prices at Mantin Heights had increased by some 20 per cent.
