Imperial Cullinan will test market

HONG KONG: The launch of flat sales at Sun Hung Kai Properties's luxury project near Olympic station in West Kowloon today will provide the first test of market sentiment since the government imposed its latest cooling measures this month.

According to the price lists for the Imperial Cullinan released by SHKP last Sunday, June 26, the average asking price for the first batch of 60 flats is HK$18,688 (RM7,252.73) per square foot — which it said was 15% lower than originally intended.

SHKP later unveiled the prices for at least 15 other flats and a 2,524 sq ft simplex, which are priced from HK$22,167 to HK$42,806 per square foot.

Cusson Leung Kai-tong, equity analyst at Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse, said he did not believe the developer was taking a cautious stance in a quieter market. At HK$18,688 per square foot, its pricing was aggressive.

"In the neighbouring development The Long Beach, flats are selling in the secondary market at only HK$11,000 to HK$12,000 per square foot. So the premium is huge," he said. "This shows that the developer is confident with its brand as well as the purchasing power of its target market."

According to property agency Midland Realty's website, one of its latest deals at The Long Beach was sold for HK$9,546 per square foot, while flats at the nearby One Silver Sea went for between HK$13,300 and HK$16,976 per square foot last month.

Leung said it was common for developers to give a discount of about 10% for the first group of buyers. He said cooling measures did not have much impact. "This project offers sizeable units with three bedrooms or more and there is a market demand for these units ... as their supply has been limited," he said.

Located on Hoi Fai Road and a 10-minute walk from Olympic station near Tai Kok Tsui, Imperial Cullinan has five towers. It offers about 650 flats. The majority have two to five bedrooms, and are between 700 sq ft and 1,900 sq ft. A key selling point is the sea view, being adjacent to the harbourfront.

Of the flats for sale, the cheapest is a 1,583 sq ft, four-bedroom unit for nearly HK$26.08 million. The priciest is the 2,524 sq ft simplex at HK$108 million. It is equipped with a swimming pool and six bedrooms.

Imperial Cullinan is the first project launched since the government stepped in again to cool the market nearly three weeks ago.

The Monetary Authority cut the maximum borrowing for homes costing HK$7 million or more, and set the maximum loan-to-value ratio for all homes sold to non-resident borrowers at least 10 percentage points below that for residents.

Sandia Lau Ying-lam, Centaline Property Agency's director of residential flats in Kowloon, was upbeat about Imperial Cullinan because of its convenient location and the sea view. "It's close to the MTR station and there are fewer flats in the market with a view of the harbour," she said. She said that compared to secondary-market prices of around HK$27,000 per square foot at The Arch and The Cullinan near Kowloon station, Imperial Cullinan was not that expensive.

Lau believes 30% to 40% of the buyers are likely to be mainlanders because of the large lump sums involved. Victor Lui Ting, executive director at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, though, was confident that the project would attract both local and mainland buyers. — SCMP