Commercial property sales drop 38.6% MoM in April

Cash-rich business owners drove transactions for the month.

Non-residential property sales transactions in Hong Kong declined by 38.6% MoM to 1,172 units in April, data from the Land Registry showed.

According to CBRE, most transactions recorded in April were from end-suers or cash-rich business owners who are stacking up commercial assets at current attractive prices.

Seafood retailer and wholesale, On Kee, for example, spend $178m to acquire a 23,000 square feet ground floor industrial asset in Tsuen Wan.

On the flip side, CBRE said asset owners are letting go of their properties to reduce debt due to the market rebounding, like the New World Development, which disposed of a portfolio of 59 car parks at The MAsterpeice in Tsim Sha Tsui for $188m or $3.18m each.

Looking ahead, CBRE believes transaction volumes will likely improve by H2 2023.

“The normalisation of business and travel activity should continue to boost interest in retail and hotel investments in the coming months,” the expert added.