Hong Kong apartment buyers flock to Shenzhen

The lifting of property-buying curbs on the mainland has benefited Hong Kong purchasers who wish to own a home in Shenzhen. Brent Lewin / Bloomberg

The easing of homes-purchase curbs on the mainland, coupled with soaring property prices in Hong Kong, have pushed more Hong Kong residents across the border to realize their dream of owning a home.

Tiara - a newly completed residential development in Shenzhen's Longhua New Area - has attracted more than 100 Hong Kong buyers so far.

The project, developed by wholly-owned mainland subsidiaries of MTR Corp Ltd - began sales last Sunday. A total of 641 units have since been snapped up at an average price of 36,000 yuan ($5,801) per square meter, with 20 percent of the purchasers from the SAR, according to a salesman at the project's sales center.

"A good number of the buyers were from Hong Kong when sales began," he said.

According to the developer, the project has so far drawn 3,500 potential buyers, with the sales volume reaching 2.6 billion yuan.

"I have long thought of owning a home on the mainland because of my job. Besides, MTR Corp has a good reputation in Hong Kong, so I chose it," said a Hong Kong buyer surnamed Wong.

"Moreover, transportation is convenient as I can easily get to Futian Port within 20 minutes," he said.

Apart from convenience of travel between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, industry experts believe that Hong Kong buyers tend to favor mature residential areas and those where many Hong Kong people gather.

"Compared with mainland people, Hong Kong buyers are more conservative in making a decision," said Wang Fei, manager of Centaline Property Research Center. "They are more likely to choose properties well served by transportation facilities, like those in Futian and Luohu districts, rather than Bao'an."

Since the mainland central bank eased property-purchasing restrictions by relaxing housing loans late last month and lowering banks' reserve requirement ratio on April 20, Shenzhen's real estate has responded positively with both housing supply and prices picking up.

According to the Centaline Property Research Center, 11 new property projects in Shenzhen, offering a total of 2,284 units, started sales from April 20 to April 26 - the biggest launch since early this year. Average prices for new homes had risen by 4.5 percent to 25,941 yuan per square meter during the period.

Under the new policy, families owning only one home and who have already paid off their loans can acquire their second property with a minimum down payment of just 30 percent.

Those who haven't paid off their first-home loans are allowed to buy another property with a down payment of not less than 40 percent.

"In the short term, Shenzhen's property prices are expected to climb further," Wang predicted, saying that the launch of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone will stimulate the real-estate sector.

"In the long term, housing prices in the city are likely to fluctuate, affected by a gloomy outlook for the macro-environment. But, it's impossible that prices will drop considerably, like in 2008," she said.

sally@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 04/29/2015 page8)