(A) VACANCY POSITION
18
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1994
VALUATION DEPARTMENT CARRIED OUT ANOTHER VACANCY AUGUST TO UPDATE THE POSITION IN RESPECT OF THE
RATING AND SURVEY AT THE END OF PREMISES COVERED IN COMPLETED IN 1992, AND
THE LATEST
THE APRIL SURVEY. AT THE TIME, 1,803 FLATS 7,099 IN 1993, WERE FOUND TO BE VACANT.
SURVEY SHOWED THAT 48 PER CENT OF THE 1992 FLATS FOUND VACANT IN APRIL HAD BEEN OCCUPIED. THE REDUCTION WAS SIGNIFICANT FOR A FOUR-MONTH PERIOD. OF THE 925 UNITS WHICH REMAINED VACANT, 177, OR 19 PER CENT, WERE BEING LET OR SOLD BY DEVELOPERS. OVER 75 PER CENT (706 UNITS) OF THE VACANT FLATS ARE IN TUEN MUN, YUEN LONG, FANLING, SHEUNG SHUI AND TIN SHUI WAI.
IN THE CASE OF THE FLATS SUPPLIED IN 1993, THE VACANCY RATE FELL BY 38 PER CENT FROM 7,099 TO 4,256 UNITS. OVER HALF (51.5 PER CENT) OF THE VACANT UNITS WERE HELD BY DEVELOPERS, EITHER FOR SALE OR LETTING. AGAIN, A LARGE MAJORITY OF THE VACANT UNITS (3,563 OR 83.7 PER CENT) WERE IN NORTHWEST NEW TERRITORIES.
(B)
SHORT-TERM RESALES
WE HAVE ALSO BEEN MONITORING THE
STATISTICS ON SHORT-TERM RESALE OF FLATS, THE NUMBER OF SUCH TRANSACTIONS HAS DECLINED FROM OVER 3,000 IN APRIL 1994 TO JUST OVER 1,000 IN AUGUST 1994. PROFITS FROM RESALE ALSO DROPPED BY HALF, FROM AN AVERAGE OF $1.12 M PER CASE IN APRIL TO $0.58 M IN AUGUST. IN SOME CASES, PROPERTIES WERE SOLD AT A LOSS.
TO POTENTIAL HOMEBUYERS, MY ADVICE IS THE SAME AS BEFORE. THERE IS NO NEED TO RUSH INTO THE MARKET IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN IMMEDIATE HOUSING NEED. THERE ARE STILL THOUSANDS OF VACANT UNITS MANY OF WHICH WILL COME ONTO THE MARKET, MANY OF WHICH WILL COME ONTO THE MARKET, PROBABLY ONCE SPECULATORS REALIZE THERE IS LITTLE PROSPECT OF A QUICK RETURN. AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE, WOULD-be HOMEBUYERS WHO REFUSE TO BE STAMPEDED INTO ACTION BY SEDUCTIVE MARKETING CAN HAVE SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON PROPERTY PRICES.
A
LAND REGISTRY RELEASES FIGURES FOR SEPTEMBER 1994
AND
LAND
THE NUMBER OF SALE AND PURCHASE AGREEMENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDING UNITS RECEIVED FOR REGISTRATION IN THE REGISTRY LAST MONTH WAS 7,651, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 20.4 PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS MONTH.
HOWEVER, THERE WAS A DECREASE OF 15.2 PER CENT COMPARED WITH SEPTEMBER 1993.
THE TOTAL CONSIDERATION OF THE AGREEMENTS AMOUNTED TO $23.2 BILLION, UP
12.6 PER CENT BUT DOWN 5.8 PER CENT COMPARED WITH THE AMOUNTS FOR AUGUST 1994 AND SEPTEMBER 1993 RESPECTIVELY.
/THE FIGURES
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