甲厦租售价连跌八个月上环金鐘成重灾区
新冠肺炎逐渐演变成为环球大疫症，市场忧虑环球经济衰退，写字楼市场受沉重打击。有代理报告指出，上月指标甲厦售价及租金按月分别再挫1.2%及1.8%，双双连跌第8个月，并以上环及金鐘表现最差，纷重返三年前水平。
租售价重返三年前水平
报告指出，上月金鐘甲厦售价按月挫5.3%，是各区表现最差，最新平均呎价仅30869元，较2018年底的38803元高位跌约20%，重返2017年中，即中环美利道地王卖地时水平。
上环甲厦呎价按月无变化，最新呎价仅27381元，也重回2017年中水平，意味着过去2至3年间购入物业的业主，有机会帐面遭遇损失。
金鐘甲厦呎租按月跌2.6%
上月金鐘及上环甲厦呎租分别按月挫2.6%及1.4%，其中美国银行中心一个单位，以每呎约42元租出，创下该厦十年新低纪录，同时较该单位旧租金跌33%。
代理指出，新近国际油价突然急跌，市场担心加剧全球经济大衰退，与股市及经济表现关连甚大的商厦市场，前景绝不乐观。
代理续指，除了环球经济不明朗之外，近期不少中资外资企业，希望将办公室的规模减少，而新近一连串逼在眉睫的经济危机，将令到企业变得更谨慎，预计这将会对今年的写字楼租金及售价构成严重压力。
代理表示，观塘鸿图道44至46号世纪工商中心高层单位，建筑面积约5833方呎，业主意向价约3200万，呎价约5400元。世纪工商中心于1983年入伙，去年买卖及租务约10数宗，代理指，各单位间隔方正实用，设洗手间，配上全新共享工作室装修，买家可即买即用，同时可放租，回报达4.5厘。
(星岛日报)
中环海滨商地王料建新派商厦
属于新卖地表内最瞩目的中环新海滨3号商业地王，可建楼面逾180万平方呎。零售前景不明朗，测量师估计，发展商逾6成楼面作写字楼发展，料兴建高度比较矮的新派商厦。
该幅地皮位于怡和大厦对出，比邻国际金融中心2期 (IFC2)，旁边是旅游景点香港摩天轮，佔地近52万平方呎，按照规划大纲图，总可建楼面约184万平方呎，当中约22.8万平方呎须作为政府设施，包括重置现时的邮政总局，餘下约160万平方呎楼面则作为商业发展。
该用地将会成为中环核心区最后一幅超大型商业地，亦将会成为未来的中环海滨地标。有别于现时国际金融中心2期属于摩天大厦，新海滨地皮料兴建一排低矮的商厦。
当中地皮东面部分建筑高限为16米(主水平基準以上，下同)，相信比较适合兴建数层高的商场，而东面部分高度限制则为50米，预计可以兴建8至10层高比较低矮的商厦。
有代理指出，由于规划上想保留天际綫，所以不会兴建太高的商厦，这种新派商厦近年在国际亦流行，包括伦敦的金丝雀码头，亦颇受市场欢迎。
至于商业楼面的分配，代理估计，发展商将保留6成至7成楼面作为写字楼，餘下就作为商场，而视乎中标财团的情况，估计项目落成后写字楼呎租达140至170元水平。
罕有採「双信封制」招标
政府罕有就地皮採用「双信封制」招标，亦即是发展商除了要提交地价竞投外，亦要提交设计方案等，政府在审批的时候亦会考虑设计元素，不一定价高者得。
中环对上一幅商业地在2017年5月批出，恒地(00012)以232.8亿元投得美利道地皮，每呎楼面地价达5万元。
虽然今次新海滨地王位置更佳，不过规模太大，加上遇上市况影响，估值约645亿至792.4亿元，每呎楼面地价约3.5万至4.3万元。代理比较悲观，估值属于市场下限。该代理认为，始终银码太大，去到500亿至600亿元已经是发展商心理关口。
目前中环甲级商厦呎租逾100元，属于超甲厦的国际金融中心2期呎租约160元，较高峰期200元有所回落，而交易广场呎租则约120元左右。
(经济日报)
MTR Corp plans gradual opening of Lohas Park mall amid struggle to find retail tenants
The MTR Corporation is struggling to find tenants to fill up The Lohas shopping centre in Tseung Kwan O because retailers are hesitant to commit to long-term leases amid a slump in consumer sentiment caused by months of social unrest and coronavirus.
The Lohas, which spans three-stories with a 480,000 sq ft of gross retail space, will open for business in phases from the second half this year, according to property director David Tang Chi-fai. Slightly more than half of the 150 store spaces have been taken up, he disclosed on Monday.
“Many executives in the retail and catering sectors are quite conservative when it comes to opening up new shops [amid the coronavirus situation], which has delayed our plans for tenant sign-ups” Tang said. “The progress is not in line with our targets.”
Hong Kong’s retail industry has endured a prolonged slide since anti-government protests broke out in June last year, starving the city of its lifeblood, the mainland Chinese tourists and their purchasing power. The onset of Covid-19 epidemic has now compounded the dire outlook, with retail sales sliding by record pace during the busiest festive periods on the calendar.
Retail sales plunged 24.1 per cent in January from a year earlier, while mainland tourist arrivals fell to only 3,000 on average in February, compared with 200,000 last year, the government has said. Several retail chains have scaled back their operations in Hong Kong as sales slumped, including cosmetics group Sa Sa International, jewellery firm Chow Tai Fook and furniture store operator Pricerite Group.
Lohas Park is Hong Kong’s largest residential enclave, with an estimated 58,000 residents in 21,500 flats, when the project is completed in 2025. Residents living in about 10,000 housing units in Lohas Park have been waiting over a decade for a local shopping centre to meet daily necessities such as groceries and restaurants.
Tang said the signing up of new retail tenants has slowed over the past six weeks following the outbreak. Grocery stores and restaurants are the main sign-ups, while there is some resistance from cosmetics chains and luxury shop operators, he said, adding that talks regarding an ice-skating rink and a cinema are underway.
The government-controlled company has had to cut rents for all small and medium-enterprise tenants at its railway stations and 13 other shopping malls in February and March to help ease their financial strain. Tang said the MTR Corporation “will definitely consider” offering more concessions to retailers if the gloom persists.
A gradual opening of The Lohas is a better choice for MTR than waiting out for a market upturn, an agent said.
“We can expect quite a bit of foot traffic from local residents in the new mall, especially in supermarkets and restaurants,” the agent said. “They have waited for a long time for this mall to finally open and would make their lives much more convenient.”
The Lohas shopping centre is the rail operator’s largest residential area retail arcade since PopCorn2 in Tseung Kwan O in 2012. Earlier this year, it bought interest in two shopping malls from New World Development for HK$3 billion, which Tang said was aimed at boosting its future recurrent income to fund railway maintenance and upgrade.
The city’s sole rail operator faced a 44.8 per cent plunge in its recurrent profits in 2019, after writing off costs on the Sha Tin-Central rail link and its South Western Railway franchise in London. Last year, its revenues grew 1.1 per cent to HK$54 billion net profit dropped 25.5 per cent to HK$11.9 billion.
(South China Morning Post)
