XN000022-1980-05-22 — Page 2

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THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1980

1979 YEAR OF ACTIVE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

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THE RATING AND VALUATION DEPARTMENT HAS PUBLISHED ITS 1980 PROPERTY REVIEW, AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE AT $50 A COPY.

COMMENTING ON THE REVIEW, THE COMMISSIONER OF RATING AND VALUATION, MR R.A. FRY, SAID 1979 WAS ANOTHER ACTIVE YEAR WITH PROPERTY PRICES REACHING UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS.

+COMPLETIONS ESTABLISHED A NEW RECORD OF NEARLY 2.9 MILLION SQUARE METRES, WHILE CONSENT TO COMMENCE BUILDING WORKS WAS GIVEN IN RESPECT OF NEW PROJECTS TOTALLING SOME 3.1 MILLION SQUARE METRES, HE SAID.

THE SUPPLY OF DOMESTIC ACCOMMODATION IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR LAST YEAR, AT 27 795 UNITS, WAS THE BEST ACHIEVEMENT SINCE 1966. A FURTHER 28 000 AND 32 000 UNITS ARE FORECAST TO BE COMPLETED

IN 1980 AND 1981 RESPECTIVELY.

TRENDS

+THE PATTERN OF NEW DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENT BEING CONCENTRATED ON THE ISLAND IS BEGINNING TO CHANGE, AS DEVELOPERS RUN OUT OF SUITABLE SITES IN THIS AREA, THE COMMISSIONER SAID.

MUCH OF THE FUTURE PRIVATE HOUSING STOCK WILL BE LOCATED IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, WHERE ANTICIPATED COMPLETIONS IN 1981 WILL ACCOUNT FOR OVER 40 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL SUPPLY FORECAST FOR THAT YEAR.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF SMALLER UNITS STILL PREDOMINATES, WITH UNITS IN THE SIZE RANGE OF 30 TO 39.9 SQUARE METRES BEING THE MOST POPULAR. THIS TREND SEEMS LIKELY TO CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.

ALTHOUGH THE PRODUCTION OF HOUSES IN 1979 WAS CONSIDERABLY UP ON PREVIOUS YEARS, A LARGE PROPORTION OF THE YEARS' SUPPLY WAS OF SO-CALLED VILLAGE-TYPE HOUSES IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, MANY BEING FAIRLY SMALL UNITS, MR FRY ADDED.

DOMESTIC FLATS

TOTAL DOMESTIC VACANCIES AT DECEMBER 1979 WERE ABOUT 14 550 UNITS AND ALTHOUGH THIS WAS CONSIDERABLY UP ON LAST YEAR'S FIGURE, IT STILL REPRESENTS ONLY 3,2 PER CENT OF THE YEAR-END STOCK, A FAIRLY INSIGNIFICANT PROPORTION, GIVEN THE NORMAL DAY-TO-DAY MOVEMENTS WHICH INEVITABLY MUST TAKE PLACE IN SUCH A MARKET.

RENTAL SHOWED A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE FOR ALL CLASSES OF DOMESTIC PROPERTY DURING 1979, WITH AVERAGE INCREASES RANGING FROM 26 PER CENT TO 64 PER CENT OVER THE 1978 FIGURES.

/+HOWEVER,