Henderson Land Development sold 51 units out of 138 on offer at the residential project The Quinn Square Mile in Tai Kok Tsui on Sunday, according to the developer, as price-sensitive buyers snapped up small-sized flats amid a pickup in new project launches from developers over the past week.

Most of the units sold by 6pm were one-bedroom flats and studios, according to property agents, with the majority of buyers being end users younger than 30 years old. Agents expected about 60 per cent of all available units to be sold by the end of the day, the second of the three-day Labour Day weekend.

"Many buyers remain optimistic about the property market outlook, as there is a strong pent up demand from buyers standing on the sidelines in the first quarter and fourth quarter of last year," said Louis Chan, vice-chairman and chief executive of Centaline Property Agency's residential department in Asia-Pacific.

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The sale of the Henderson Land project followed an eventful week of launches from developers, which saw new orders from buyers every day of the week. This is in sharp contrast to the preceding three-month lull in sales as social distancing measures linked to the city's fifth wave of Covid-19 caused developers to delay new project launches.

Ahead of the sale, The Quinn Square Mile received 900 registrations from interested buyers, meaning about 7 interested buyers were going after each of the 138 units on offer, according to local media.

The batch released today, which accounts for about a fifth of the total 614 units in the project, also featured two-bedroom flats, with the biggest flat measuring up to 382 sq ft. The first-batch units were earmarked for sale at an average launch price of HK$23,928 per square foot after discounts offered by the developer.

That is about 1 per cent lower than units at Soyo, another tiny flat development in Mong Kok from Chun Wo Development Holdings. The launch price for those units last December was an average of HK$24,179 per square foot.

The Quinn Square Mile sales have so far netted HK$330 million for Henderson Land, according to Mark Hahn, the general manager of sales.

Mark Hahn, general manager of sales at Henderson Land. Photo: Handout alt=Mark Hahn, general manager of sales at Henderson Land. Photo: Handout>

The resurgence in interest has also come ahead of more rate hikes in store for the rest of this year, which could increase buyers' mortgage repayments down the line.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise the Fed funds rate by half a percentage point this month, as US inflation rose at the fastest pace in 40 years. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority would likely mirror the hike in its base lending rate due to Hong Kong's currency peg to the US dollar, adding upwards pressure to mortgage payments linked to interbank rates.

Some potential buyers may be prompted to buy ahead of further rate hikes, which banks typically respond to with higher income requirements for mortgage applicants, agents said. That might have fuelled sales at the Grand Mayfair I in Yuen Long, which was developed by Sino Land, K Wah International and China Overseas Land and Investment. All 388 flats on offer sold out on Friday.

Sales of new homes are likely to hit 1,200 units in April, according to Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties. That would make it the busiest month since December, when 1,493 units were sold, according to Land Registry data. Sales could rise further to a 10-month high of 2,000 in May, Chan predicted.

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