Govt to offer 8 residential sites in new fiscal year
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn on Thursday said the government will offer eight residential sites for tender in the coming fiscal year as part of its land sale programme.  Linn said these eight sites are capable of providing 5,690 flats. Overall, she anticipated that a total of 15,150 residential flats would be offered in the coming fiscal year, with the supply of homes boosted by a planned railway property development along with other redevelopment initiatives. Linn also said the government would only sell one site in Sha Tin in the first quarter of the new fiscal year and would not be sell any land for commercial or industrial use. She said that the government is adopting a prudent approach in its land sale programme, even though the lifting of property cooling measures is expected to boost the housing market. "The removal of the various special stamp duties should have an enlivening effect on the market, but as to the extent it will affect the interest on the land sales, I think a basket of factors will be at force," she added.  "We do not have a crystal ball, so we won't be able to assess to what extent the removal of the various special stamp duties will affect our land sale programme." Property services firm Knight Frank regarded the government's decision to offer eight residential sites as conservative, but it added that developers remain cautious in making a purchase amid a high-interest rate environment, even after the removal of all property curbs.