According to the news from estate agents, the number of properties on the market in various districts has generally increased by 20% to 30% recently, and owners have also narrowed their bargaining range.
Some buyers opted for a small price hike to enter the market, fearing that the later the price gets higher.
This past Saturday, the first Saturday of February (4-5 February) saw an increase in the number of second-hand sales and purchases by all four major agents, with the highest weekly increase of 70% (see table).
Some agents expect the number of second-hand transactions to rise to 5,000 this month, a 19-month high.
In terms of the performance of each district, Century 21 Sunrise Property co-director Mr Chua Ka-chun said that after the announcement of the full clearance, the number of viewings in North Point has increased by 30% compared to the previous level, and the bargaining rate of owners has also narrowed from 10% to 15% to 5% to 8% now, and there are even cases of price increase. For example, a 958-square-foot low-rise garden-view flat in City Garden was originally offered at $13.8 million, but has now been raised by 8.7% to $15 million.
According to Centaline's Senior Divisional Sales Manager Wong Wai Ha, the number of viewings in Mei Foo has also increased by 30%, but owners have become more rigid, with a few counteroffers and only 1% to 3% bargaining power in general. However, many buyers still want to buy at last November's price, so that both sides see eye to eye.
In another area, a new sale transaction was recorded in Tseung Kwan O. A 594 sq ft mid-rise H flat in Block 6 of Metro Station was offered by the original owner at $8.5 million. Hong Kong Land's Chief Divisional Director Lau Ho-kan also revealed that the owner's bargaining power in the area has narrowed to only 2 to 3 per cent and the number of viewings has increased by 30 per cent.
As for other areas in the New Territories, Centaline Property said many buyers are looking to enter the market before the New Year, driven by good news.
The latest case is from Flat 08, a high-rise in Block C, with an area of 242 square feet and 2 partitions. The asking price was around $4.48 million when the property was put up for sale, but it was reduced to $4.26 million earlier and was countered by 2 groups of customers.
Midland's Joint Regional Manager, Mr. Chung Ka Ho, pointed out that about 20% of the owners of properties in Tsuen Wan have increased their prices in recent months, while another 10% have closed their sales. However, the number of viewings in the district has increased by 45% week-on-week in the last week, and the number of transactions in recent months has also increased by 20% month-on-month.
The owner of a 600-square-foot flat on the middle floor of Block 8 in Discovery Park originally put up the property for sale in August last year and released the key in October at an asking price of $7.98 million, but recently saw that many people were worried that the property was "sold out", so he closed the property and took back the key.
The owner of a small flat has negotiated a price with the buyer and counter-offered $100,000 to $200,000, but the buyer may not be willing to pursue the price immediately, leading to a tug-of-war between the buyer and seller.
Midland Assistant Sales Director Prince Chiu said, for example, the Sheung Shui district before the Lunar New Year, an average of only five to six groups of customers a week to look at the property, after the New Year full clearance news, the number of visits to the property immediately doubled. The bargaining range also narrowed from about 5% to 8% to only 1%. However, as most of the owners wanted to exchange their properties, they did not see any significant counter-offer increase.
Recently, buyers are more positive about quality goods or their preferred flats, and are willing to take them at market price or a little higher than the bank's valuation before the owners raise the price significantly. For example, a 427-square-foot, mid-floor flat H in Block 1 of Greenwood House in Fanling was sold for $4.85 million at a price of $11,358 per square foot, slightly higher than HSBC's estimate of $4.78 million.
The property viewing atmosphere in Yuen Long has also become more robust. According to Centaline's Deputy Regional Sales Manager, Mr. Wong Chin Hok, the number of second-hand properties viewed in recent weeks has increased by 50% week-on-week, with buyers taking a more positive attitude towards the market than before and owners narrowing their bargaining power to about 3% to 4%.
Leung Ho Man, Regional Sales Director of Midland, said that owners in Tuen Mun have recently narrowed their bargaining power to 3% to 5%, while the number of property buyers has increased by 15% to 20% week-on-week.
Midland's Chief Executive Officer (Hong Kong and Macau), Mr Bo Siu Ming, said that many owners and prospective buyers are optimistic about the future market trend, and there is no shortage of large and high-priced transactions in the market, with some owners narrowing their bargaining power to around 3 to 5 per cent.
With the imminent launch of a new major property, which will trigger the release of purchasing power, 2,000 first-hand transactions are expected to be recorded in February, a three-fold increase month-on-month, while second-hand transactions are also expected to rise to 5,000, a 19-month high.
The second-hand market is also expected to receive a positive boost when developers go all out with new launches," said Mr Liu Weiqiang, President of Ricacorp.
