Sun Hung Kai Properties paid a high price to win Hong Kong’s first land auction of the year, sending other sellers scrambling to raise their prices.
Intense bidding prompted the blue-chip developer to pay $432 million for a site covering 130,000 square feet in the suburbs of Hong Kong. The winning bid was well above most analysts’ expectations.
Sun Hung Kai Properties acquired another residential site on the same day in Guangdong Province for $688 million. This site covers a gross floor area of 17.2 million square feet.
The two purchases follow sharply on the heels of a sales campaign that brought in $538 million for the company by selling 900 apartments at another one of its developments over the weekend. The apartments range in size from 400 to 1,400 square feet.
Forbes reported that about 40 of the apartments were put up for sale immediately afterward with prices up to 20% higher than those paid by the owners, according to the South China Morning Post. The apartments range in size from 400 to 1,400 square feet.