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Hong Kong Residential Sales Reached Four-Year High in September

Developers offer competitive packages to lure buyers

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Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.

Marco Wong / Getty Images
Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.
Marco Wong / Getty Images

Hong Kong’s property market is showing more signs of recovery.

In September, the residential sales increased 34.4% month-on-month to 7,826, a four-year high, according to the Land Registry.

The sales volume increased by 83.6% compared with last September, when the city’s residential market peaked. The market slumped to a 25-year low of 1,807 units sold in February before it slowly rebounded.

The latest gain was attributable mainly to robust activity in the primary market, as more buyers and investors joined the buying spree and developers offered competitive sales packages, according to the analysis of Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy.

Last month, a number of new residential developments were oversubscribed. For instance, over 95% of the 545 units available in One Kai Tak, in Kowloon City, were sold within a week of launch, while The Papillion, in Tseng Kwan O, sold all its 857 units within a month, according to Knight Frank.

Besides, interest from mainland buyers continues to support Hong Kong’s property market, amid price surges and tightened curbs on house-buying in top-tier cities in China, according to a research note by Bank of America Merrill Lynch released last week.

As home prices skyrocketed in major mainland cities, Hong Kong is becoming more affordable to Chinese buyers. "More mainland investors might consider buying a second home in Hong Kong for diversification or wealth-protection purposes," according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch report.

Write to Fang Block at fang.block@dowjones.com