Hong Kong homebuyers snap up the city’s first sale after rate cuts
Hong Kong’s homebuyers defied a No 3 typhoon signal to snap up apartments during two property sales on Friday, entering the market after commercial banks lowered their prime lending rates a day earlier following the first rate cut by the local monetary authority. New World sold 115 of the 120 units in the House Muse…
CK Asset, one of the flagship companies of the tycoon Li Ka-shing, found five buyers for the last 70 units of Blue Coast II in Wong Chuk Hang, priced between HK$10.2 million and HK$20.2 million, or HK$22,684 per sq ft on average after discounts. Thirty-two of the units were on sale by tender.
Property agents pointed to the rate cut as the start of a downwards cycle for lending costs, adding that government measures after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address on Wednesday would stabilise the property market.
“[The] two additional rate reductions anticipated in the coming months signal the onset of a downwards interest rate cycle, thereby incentivising more buyers to position themselves in the market,” said Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties.
