Bal Residence, a single block building in Heng On Street, Kwun Tong, which is a joint venture between Lai Sun and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), released its sales brochure yesterday morning and announced the first launch of 56 one-bedroom units at an average price of $19,554 per square foot, which is close to the cost price of the property and 15% lower than the first-hand price in the same district, with an entry of $5.869 million for a 338-square-foot unit.
Bal Residence opened its show flats for public viewing and began collecting tickets from 3pm yesterday. Senior Vice President of Lai Sun Development, Mr Poon Rui Man, described the first price list as a "balanced" price, with the price of a square foot returning to the price of a new development in the same district five years ago.
The project offers 156 units, ranging in size from 300 to 793 square feet, with one-bedroom units accounting for over 90% of the total. Among them, the first price list consists of 56 units ranging from 338 to 349 square feet, all of which are one-bedroom units, and the discounted prices range from $5,869,900 to $7,768,700 after a maximum discount of 11.75%. The developer is also offering a building term payment plan at a discount of 8.75%.
The project was awarded by Lai Sun to the URA in 2019 for $883 million, with a land value of approximately $12,300 per square foot. If we take into account the 10% "inflated floor area" and the construction cost of approximately $4,000 per square foot, it is roughly estimated that the construction cost alone will amount to $15,000 per square foot.
According to the terms of the tender, the winning consortium will be required to pay dividends to the URA according to the mechanism when the sale proceeds of the project exceed $1.38 billion.
For the first batch of units priced close to the cost price, Poon said, business has to depend on the market conditions to price, the current market conditions are user-led, and said the sale price has been referred to the same district first and second-hand property prices.
In addition, he believes that the adjustment of the stamp duty for first-time buyers in the Budget will have a positive psychological effect on potential home buyers. Even though there is still a chance of a short-term adjustment in interest rates, I believe the market will return to the right track in the long run.
The first batch of Bal Residence's discounted average unit price is about 15% lower than the first-hand unit price in the same district, reflecting that the developer is looking for volume before price, and the project will last for about one year (the expected key date is the end of March 2024).
Centaline Property's Sales Director for South East Central Kowloon, Mr. Lee Yuk Cheung, believes that the discounted price of all units in the development is below $8 million, which will benefit from the stamp duty relief for first-time buyers under the new financial package.
As for Wheelock Properties Development's first round of sales of 148 units at KOKO ROSSO in Lam Tin, which closed at 8pm last night, 6,594 votes were received, 43.5 times over-registered.
The units, ranging in size from 268 to 497 square feet and comprising one- to two-bedroom units, are available for sale tonight at a discounted price of less than $9 million.
In terms of new property transactions, Kerry Properties' Penthouse Hill Tee Shan was sold through tender yesterday, with 1,743 and 1,683 square feet of flat A and flat B on the first floor of Block 1, each with a car parking space, at $75.68 million and $73.08 million respectively, at $43,419 and $43,422 per square foot. It is noted that the buyers were the same group of customers.
