Hong Kong’s New World, Far East primed for sell-out at Pavilia Forest I amid strong demand

As of 6:17pm, 141 of the 198 units on offer had been sold, according to the agents. Pavilia Forest I recorded more than 3,700 orders from prospective buyers as of Wednesday, which made this weekend’s sale close to 18 times oversubscribed, local media reported.

Prices at Pavilia Forest I are the lowest among the new projects launched in Kai Tak, according to Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive of Midland Realty’s residential division for Hong Kong and Macau, who predicted a sell-out on the back of strong interest in the aggressively priced flats on offer.

The first 60 flats of the project were being offered for as low as HK$16,008 (US$2,050) per square foot, with discounts of up to 18 per cent compared to other new developments in the same area, according to Midland Realty. The initial units on offer, ranging between 234 and 512 square feet (47.6 square metres), are priced from HK$3.86 million to HK$9.87 million.

Hong Kong’s recent property launches have been priced as much as 10 per cent lower, compared to projects in the same period in 2015, according to data from real estate services firm JLL.

Among Saturday’s Pavilia Forest I homebuyers was a group that planned to spend HK$40 million on six units, most which are two- bedroom flats, according to Midland Realty’s Po.

Projects in Kai Tak used to primarily attract mainland Chinese buyers, he said. For Pavilia Forest I, most clients this weekend were local buyers, with only 30 per cent from the mainland.

In the residential segment, transactions fell 30.5 per cent on a monthly basis to 3,856 in June, while sales also shrank by 35 per cent to HK$34.5 billion (US$4.4 billion). Overall property transactions – including shops, car parks, industrial spaces, office units and homes – fell 28.7 per cent to 5,245 units, while the total value declined 34 per cent to around HK$42 billion, according to data published last week by the Land Registry.

Hong Kong is expected to see around 1,300 transactions in the primary market in July, double from more than 600 in June. Meanwhile, the volume of secondary transactions will remain steady at around 3,500, similar to the previous month, according to Midland Realty’s Po.

“The low pricing of the Pavilia Forest I project, along with new projects entering the market in Tuen Mun, should help to further stimulate buying demand,” he said.