〈Asian Post, Feburay 15, 2017〉A Hong Kong buyer shelled out close to HK$400,000 as a down payment on a property in the UK but last July, two months before it was due to be completed, the site lay empty and deserted.


In September, the buyer learned that the developer, sunk by debt, had not proceeded with construction and had appointed another company to manage the process of compensating owners.


But he struggled to get any further information from the agent and the lawyer in Hong Kong involved in the initial transaction for the HK$740,000 property.

This case was held up by the city's Consumer Council yesterday as a warning to Hongkongers to beware of the risks of buying property overseas, whether for investment or residential purposes.


Last year, the council received 35 complaints on overseas property purchases - more than double the 16 complaints in 2016.Unhappy buyers complained mostly about developments they bought that languished uncompleted, agents who they suspected had misled them by not disclosing the risks of insufficient property valuation, and sales and purchase contracts that differed from what agents had described.


In another case, a buyer bought a flat and a car park space worth HK$2 million at an exhibition of UK residential property organised by a Hong Kong company.

He paid a reservation fee of HK$30,000. But two weeks later when he received from the lawyer a formal sales and purchase agreement, he was shocked to find that the name of the developer on the contract was different from that on the reservation form.


〈The Standard , Feburary 15, 2017〉Home prices are tipped to rise this year by only a single digit, unlike last year when prices grew 14 percent, Jeff Yau, research director on Hong Kong property at DBS Vickers, said yesterday.


He said prices of medium and large apartments would grow faster than those of small flats. This is due to the relaxation of the policy on claiming partial refunds of stamp duty under which the period for filing refund claims has been extended to 12 months, up from six. This move will free up pent-up demand from those who wish to upgrade their accommodation.


The supply of small flats though will be increased under the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme and through another scheme in which buyers use White Forms. As a result of these twin moves, prices of small flats are expected to remain stable this year, said Yau. Further contributing to stable growth of prices this year are expectations that about 19,000 new flats are to be offered for sale this year, up 3 percent from last year's level.


Meanwhile, office rents in Central are expected to rise by 3 to 4 percent, while rents in Kowloon East are tipped to drop by 3 to 5 percent due to the rising supply of office premises in the district.


In the secondary market, a 1,159-square-foot flat at Wheelock Properties' Monterey project in Tseung Kwan O south was sold for HK$30.48 million or about HK$26,300 per sq ft, the highest selling price achieved in the district.


Wheelock Properties executive director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu said the company will offer via tender five special flats at its Savannah project, also in Tseung Kwan O. The apartments range in size from 1,985 to 1,993 sq ft.


〈Asian Pao,February 14 , 2017〉Shanghai may soon have a new financial district after a state-owned consortium won 19 plots of land in Pudong for 13.8 billion yuan (HK$17 billion).


The coalition, formed by Shanghai Land Group, subway operator Shanghai Shentong Metro and railway builder Pudong Railway, plans to transform the area into a thriving business zone featuring offices, shops and cultural spaces, according to a government filing.


With a total area of 254,300 sq metres - the size of 35 football fields - the project has the potential to rival Lujiazui, the city's business district, also in Pudong.

The 19 plots will yield a combined gross floor area of 1.37 million sq metres, more than three times the area covered by the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong.


"It has the potential to be a new [central business district] in Pudong," said Daniel Yao, the head of research for east China at property consultancy JLL.

The consortium secured all 19 lots with a single bid at an estimated 10,000 yuan per square metre, according to the government filing.


It was likely to invest at least 50 billion yuan over the next five years, industry experts said.This is a really good long-term investment. The project has great potential because of its location and low vacancy rateDaniel Yao, head of research for East China, JLL"The land cost of 10,000 yuan per square metre is reasonable. The average office rent in the area is about 200 yuan to 300 yuan per square metre per month, as much as 60 per cent lower than the 500 yuan to 600 yuan per square metre monthly rate in Lujiazui," said Vincent Cheung, a deputy managing director of Asia valuations and advisory services at Colliers International.


〈Asian Post ,February 13, 2017〉China's HNA Group is selling two land parcels in Hong Kong to Henderson Land Development for HK$16 billion, as the Chinese conglomerate ramps up asset disposals to address a liquidity crunch.


The sale by HNA subsidiary Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group (0687) is expected to be completed today.

The sale of the parcels to Henderson Land, controlled by the territory's second-richest man, Lee Shau-kee, would be conducted by two Cayman Island funds holding the rights to the sites, HKICIM said.


Group vice chairman Liu Junchun said the transaction "enables the group's investment in these funds to realize a handsome capital return in a shorter time span."

This, in turn, will enable the company to focus its resources on developing the remaining two land parcel projects in Kai Tak and other businesses, Liu said. The per-square-foot price in terms of gross floor area is HK$15,000, said James Cheung King-tat, a surveyor from Centaline Property. He estimates that after adding construction costs, the development cost could reach HK$22,000 per sq ft.


HNA had won tenders for the sites for about HK$14.2 billion in late 2016, outbidding local developers with a figure above market price. The sites were zoned for residential developments.


"HNA claims a 13 percent gain on the shockingly expensive purchases in just over a year, and while this is undeniably good news, the proceeds won't come close to resolving HNA's liquidity shortfall," said Brock Silvers, managing director at Shanghai-based Kaiyuan Capital.

"The company is expected to engage in further divestitures, especially its offshore real estate, [as] it continues to shore up domestic bank support."


〈HK Gov,Feruary 12, 2017〉The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) today (February 14) approved the income and asset limits for White Form (WF) applicants, as well as the average selling prices and sales arrangements for the Sale of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Flats 2018.

Applications may be submitted from the end of March to mid-April and balloting will be held in June. Successful applicants will be invited to select flats from August.


For the Sale of HOS Flats 2018, the income limit for family applicants will be $57,000 per month and the asset limit will be $1.96 million. The income and asset limits for one-person applicants will be set at half of the limits for family applicants, at $28,500 and $980,000 respectively (see Table 1).

"Following the established methodology, the income and asset limits are set after taking into account the latest property market and economic conditions," a spokesman for the HA said.


"As endorsed by the SHC in November 2017, the income and asset limits will also apply to applicants of White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM), which will be launched concurrently with the Sale of HOS Flats 2018 in March," the spokesman added.


A total of 4 431 flats from three new HOS developments will be put up for sale, comprising 2 522 flats in Hoi Lok Court in Cheung Sha Wan, with a saleable area of 35.6 square metres (sq m) to 58.6 sq m; 683 flats in Kai Long Court in Kai Tak with a saleable area of 26.6 sq m to 43.8 sq m, and 1 226 flats in Yu Tai Court in Tung Chung with a saleable area of 25.8 sq m to 53.1 sq m.


The SHC decided that the average selling prices for the HOS flats are to be set at 30 per cent discount from the assessed market values. The selling prices, after applying the discount, will average $3.6 million and range from $1.59 million to $6.30 million (see Table 2) with over 95 per cent below $5 million.