In the interest of some of our clients and our curiosity, Place Property attended the Sale of the Government Properties by Public Auction on Tuesday 25th August 2015. We were very interested to see how potential purchasers would react to the recent downturn of both the Chinese and U.S markets.
Listed below are the details of the 10 “luxury” properties auctioned, together with the results. There were 4 apartments sold and 6 withdrawn (as the reserve price [which was withheld] was not met, or there were no interested parties).
The Government were quite aggressive with their pricing and of the 4 apartments sold, they achieved similar prices to those apartments sold within the same development earlier this year, in February (marked in blue in the “Last Registered Transaction” column).
We therefore left with mixed feelings that whilst bidding was slow and purchasers were prudent with their bidding, Hong Kong property is still an investment that people who are here for the long term are not afraid to pursue provided that prices are aligned with bank valuations. We do feel that there could be more exposure for these auctions to attract potential purchasers. There were only 7 active participants.