Hong Kong′s property market appears to have recovered from its recent slump judging by the sale of a residential building site in Sheung Shui that sold for HK$61 million in the city's first sale for almost a year, reported Bloomberg.
Centaline Property Agency Ltd and Midland Holdings Ltd had initially estimated that the 3,300 sq ft site in northern Hong Kong would sell for HK$39 million.
However, according to the city′s Land Department, it was sold for HK$61 million to Successful Properties Ltd.
“There were eleven bidders in total and that shows the market has confidence,” Alvin Lam, a director at Midland Surveyors, part of Midland Holdings Ltd, told Bloomberg. “The sale exceeded most estimates by 20 percent and this is a positive sign for market sentiment.”
Bloomberg reports that Hong Kong home transactions rose to the highest level in 10 months in April.
Indeed, according to Vigers Research, the city′s property market is picking up with the latest Land Registry records showing an increase in sales and purchase agreements in April.
“Optimism about a revival in the city's housing market is reignited by the latest Land Registry records, which showed that 11,143 sales and purchase agreements (for all types of properties) had been signed in April, up 38.2 percent from 8,062 in the previous month and also up 1.8 percent from 10,945 registered a year ago,” Vigers Research cites.
However, the city′s housing market could dampen as Hong Kong's top healthcare officials have repeatedly warned that the H1N1 flu virus is highly likely to spark a pandemic in local communities, similar to what the SARS outbreak had done to the city in 2003.
