Hong Kong buyers are betting on an uptick in the city’s housing market amid plans to reopen the border with mainland China by February next year, according to analysts, as results of home sales on Sunday were mixed.

As many as 116 flats, or 42.6 per cent, of the 272 total units on offer at The Arles – a project by local developer Centralcon Properties that is located near the Fo Tan subway station in the eastern New Territories – were sold on Sunday, according to agents. The flats that were snapped up were each sold at a 15 per cent discount, priced at around HK$20,905 (US$2,686) per square foot.

Sales of the project have been “reasonable” on the back of news about the border reopening, said Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive at Midland Realty‘s residential division.

An individual spent HK$100 million on Sunday to buy the whole floor – representing a total of 8 units – at one of The Arles’ buildings, according to Centralcon Properties. Buyers of units with an area of 4,239 square feet will need to pay around 15 per cent tax.

Po indicated, however, that price-sensitive buyers refrained from snapping up the more expensive units in the development. The prices of flats at The Arles range from HK$8 million to HK$100 million.

Buyers queue up for the sale of flats in The Arles at Centralcon Properties’ sales office at Kingston International Centre in Kowloon Bay on November 7, 2021.

The results of Sunday’s sales for The Arles come a day after CK Asset Holdings recorded brisk business at its #Lyos project in Hung Shui Kiu. On Saturday, the firm sold all 200 flats offered in the first batch of sales for its #Lyos development.

The successful launch at Hung Shui Kiu shows how Hong Kong’s residential property bull run has gained momentum in recent months after a brief stumble last year, as the city’s economic recovery and low interest rates bolstered sentiments.

Still, The Arles is a crucial test on whether that momentum can be maintained this month. When fully completed in March 2023, The Arles will comprise 1,335 flats measuring between 228 and 947 square feet.

“The units are small and close to the subway station, which are quite attractive to some young people,” said Louis Chan Wing-kit, Centaline Property Agency’s vice-chairman and chief executive of its residential department in Asia-Pacific.

The third round of sales at The Arles is expected to be valued between HK$5 million and $21.8 million, with prices per sq ft ranging from HK$16,423 to HK$26,251. The Arles has posted two favourable sales rounds, selling about 47 per cent of units on offer in the second round and 82 per cent in the first round.

“Since the stock market has recently been less volatile, the overall sentiment towards the property market is pretty good,” Midland Realty‘s Po said. He indicated that more buyers are entering the market after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s policy address last month.

The government unveiled its plan for a “Northern Metropolis”, close to the southern border of mainland China, where 2.5 million people may live within 20 years. The scheme, repackaged and expanded from an existing new town plan, is seen as a major strategic change for development. It will move the centre away from Hong Kong Island to the north, integrating the city into Beijing’s latest national development plan

The metropolis will include existing new towns in Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long, Fanling and Sheung Shui and their neighbouring rural areas, as well as six new development areas under planning or construction.

Midland Realty’s Po predicted a 2 per cent gain in housing prices this month and in December, as well as new home sales of 25,000 units and around 4,000 unit sales in the secondary market in November.