The Zhitong Finance App learned that Midland Property analyst Shen Songqian said that as the Hong Kong property market conditions improve, developers are speeding up pre-sale applications for their projects to increase the flexibility of future sales deployments. According to data from the Joint Property Research Center and the General Lands Administration, a total of 7 new applications for pre-sale private housing projects were recorded in September. The number of units involved reached 3,778 units, a significant increase of about 235.8% over the month of 1125 units in August, and a new high of 52 months (more than 4 years) after May 2022. The projects involved include Phase 1 to 4 (2290 units) of Lot No. 297 in Sheung Shui City, Fanling, Phase C and D (898 units) of the New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6647 (898 units), and Phase 2 (590 units), No. 28 Ho Chau Road, Yuen Long.
Shum Chung-him pointed out that of the 7 new projects applied for in September, only 1 had a construction period of 20 months, while the remaining 6 all exceeded 30 months, including 1 project that reached 36 months (about 3 years), 1 that reached 39 months (more than 3 years), and 4 that reached 51 months (more than 4 years). Since the maximum pre-sale period is 30 months, many of the above projects are still a long time away from completion. This indicates that developers mainly submit pre-sale applications early for longer-term projects, reserving greater flexibility for future adjustments to the pace of promotion and sales strategies in response to market conditions.
On the other hand, in September, 3 private residential projects were approved for pre-sale consent. The projects include Ruijing Phase 2 (407 units), which was sold in September, the price list was announced recently, and the 88 Rongguang Street Project (451 units), which was previously named Lihai. The three projects had a total of 1,380 units, a decrease of about 26.6% from 1879 units in August.
Shum Chung-him said that since there were far more new real estate applications in September than those approved, the cumulative number of pre-sale units awaiting approval increased by about 18.5% over the previous month to 15,378 units. However, among them, 3,768 units funded the sale of houses, that is, the number of private residential units awaiting approval is 11,610; more importantly, the private homes currently awaiting approval for pre-sale involved 5049 units over 30 months, accounting for about 43.5%. Of these, there are also 2,290 units over 50 months, accounting for about 19.7%.