May 26th.

The Hong Kong government auctioned the first phase of 2 pieces of land in the new financial year, the first one is located in Luen Wo Market, Fanling, with a reserve price of HK $1.8 billion, and the media is expected to have a transaction price of 28~3 billion according to market conditions; The second is in Organ Street, Yuen Long, with a starting price of HK$480 million and an estimated transaction price of HK$7~HK$800 million.

The expected price is a rough estimate based on past experience, but it all depends on the outcome of the auction. Most industry insiders predict that the transaction price will be 20 to 30 percent higher than the government's reserve price.

The result of the auction was "upset", and in the absence of competition, it was sold at a price slightly higher than the reserve price.

A piece of land in Fanling was sold at HK$2.04 billion, much lower than the expected HK$2.8~HK$3 billion;

A piece of land in Yuen Long was sold for HK$510 million, which was more than 3% lower than the expected HK$7~800 million.

When the news came out, the stock market suddenly sold off, among which real estate stocks fell the most.

Major newspapers in Hong Kong reported on the incident one after another, and the "inside story" was gradually "revealed".

According to the "facts" revealed, Hong Kong's major Chinese and British-funded real estate developers "gathered" at the café on the eve of the auction, including Cheung Kong's Anniversary, New Era's Leung Chun-fun, SHKP Kwok Bing-kong and Chan Ju-yuen, New World Leung Chi-kin, Henderson Wen-yee, Hang Lung Ronnie Chan and Yuen Wai-leung, and Swire Properties' Kan Kei-fu......

There are suspicions that the developer had "weighed up" before the auction, but they later claimed that they were only holding a meeting on the affairs of the real estate association.

Some people still have doubts about this, auction bidding is like a battle, and on the eve of the auction, everyone has entered a state of war.

At the start of the auction on the same day, the auctioneer offered HK$1.8 billion for a piece of land in Fanling, plus HK$2,000 per bid. There were 8 minutes after the auction was opened, and in the auction room, the word "long" can be used for 8 minutes without bidding. Nan Fung then bid first, Pabel bid, and then New World bid to HK$1.98 billion. Several major bidding consortiums were extremely busy, and in the bidding process, the consortium alliance was finally completed, and Nan Fung finally came forward to bid for HK$2.04 billion.

There are 13 developers who bought the site, namely Cheung Kong, Nan Fung, New Era, New World, SHKP, Sino, Kerry, Hang Lung, Henderson, Swire, Paliburg, Development Bank of Singapore and China Overseas. Among them, Dagu is British-owned; Sino, Kerry and Development Bank of Singapore are overseas Chinese companies in Southeast Asia. Huaxia Overseas is Chinese-funded and subordinate to the Ministry of Construction.

It is said that the total investment of the entire development plan is about HK$3 billion, with Cheung Kong as the project manager.

The second land auction in Yuen Long is simply a copy of the first lot. The starting price was 480 million Hong Kong dollars, 1,000 Hong Kong dollars per mouth, and after only three orders, the auction was completely cold, and the auctioneer was only able to drop the hammer for 510 million Hong Kong dollars. The second consortium has an even larger number of portfolios, reaching 15. In addition to the above 13 consortia, Chuang's Enterprises and Kwong Sang Hong are also pleased to join.

The reporters and "observers" who participated in the auction immediately talked about it.

Some people believe that this is a gesture made by developers to the Hong Kong government with action, and must not take tough measures to cool down the property market, otherwise the income from land sales will be affected. There are also people who harass the monopoly of developers to buy land at low prices, which can make amazing profits.

On May 27, Ta Kung Pao published an editorial. The editorial said:

"It can be said that this is a rare cold situation in the auction hall in recent years. In the past, most of the bidding was fierce and hit new highs...... In fact, the sudden collapse of land prices by one-third is not a blessing for Hong Kong's economy as a whole. Taking the reaction to the land sale on May 26 as an example, the stock market was the first to be affected, with real estate stocks falling sharply and investors at a loss......

The land price is too high, and it will be returned; Property prices are too expensive and out of touch with the purchasing power of the public, so adjustments need to be made. This is the consensus of everyone, and we hope to see this situation happen in an orderly, gentle, and slow manner, rather than a sharp rise followed by a sharp fall. The land sale on May 26 is the product of special circumstances and special factors, and cannot be based on this, otherwise it will increase the instability of Hong Kong's economy and be detrimental to a smooth transition......

Many people have objections to the practice of 'joint land investment' by developers on the land sale site on May 26. This is not to prohibit developers from forming a consortium to buy land, but to prevent a disguised monopoly situation. If that were the case, it would not be a fair market.

"Zi Jia" magazine said: "Before the 70s, there were often real estate developers in Hong Kong's official land auctions who cooperated to bid for land...... With the institutionalization of the official land auction system and payment terms, coupled with the self-discipline of property developers, the old method of working together to reduce prices and privately share profits is no longer the same. The repetition of the old trick this time has aroused fierce criticism from the public. ”

According to market analysts, since more than half a year, the Hong Kong government has continued to tighten restrictions on the purchase and sale of buildings, and the property market has fallen by 15% compared with the beginning of the year.

Some people also believe that if real estate developers join hands to monopolize land prices, they will inevitably reduce the government's treasury revenue, and the government's money will have to be used in Hong Kong, and London will not be able to take a cent, and it is really not advisable for real estate developers to sacrifice the government's treasury revenue.

There are also people who believe that real estate developers "hold flat goods" and will not "buy flat and sell flat", home buyers do not want to buy flat buildings, and real estate developers lower land prices, just to obtain more amazing profits.

Criticism and condemnation poured into real estate developers from all directions.

These real estate developers just "exchanged fire" with the Hong Kong government and "won a big victory", but they did not hear a single cheer.

They were immediately in a situation of "isolation" in Hong Kong, which they did not expect.

Leung Chi-kin, spokesman for the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong and general manager of New World Development, said: "The recent joint purchase of land by property developers is not premeditated to drive down land prices. On that day, no bidder was accepted for 8 minutes after the auctioneer opened the bid, which caused the developers to worry that if the government repossessed the land, it would affect the future land price, so they decided to join hands in bidding. ”

"After 8 minutes, no one answered, and the developers were surprised. Now that the property market is quiet, property prices have fallen by more than 10% in the past two months, and the government is about to announce measures to curb property prices, developers cannot see through the market outlook, so they have joined forces to bid to reduce risks. ”

Leung also stated: "Not every real estate developer can come up with billions of Hong Kong dollars to invest in this project, only to unite many to develop together." Property developers are indeed sincere in cooperating with the Government to combat property speculation. ”

Some analysts believe that Leung's explanation is not convincing, and at least seven or eight companies, including New World, have the financial resources to develop the project alone. Moreover, it is possible to sell off-the-plan properties instead of existing buildings; It does not have to be taken out all at once, but can be developed in phases over many years.

"After attending a ceremony on May 28, New World Development Chairman Cheng Yu-tung denied that the property developers concerned had joined hands to lower the land price, and said that the land price reflected that the developer was only trying to diversify investment risks," Ming Pao said. ”

Li Chaoren, chairman of Cheung Kong Industrial, attended the China Real Estate Exhibition on May 28 and stressed to reporters present: "There is absolutely no such thing as a demonstration to the Hong Kong government. He added: "In the current situation, everyone shares small risks, that's my opinion. ”

However, market participants do not agree with Li Chaoren's words.

At the low tide of real estate in Hong Kong in 1968 and 1983, Superman still dared to abandon me and take the risk of buying a large amount of land. In the auction room, Superman's "Optimus Finger" is even more famous.

Therefore, some analysts believe that Superman's cautiousness is incomprehensible, which is inconsistent with Cheung Kong's tens of billions of cash reserves.

It is said that Li Chaoren, who is "harmonious" in life, has instructed Cheung Kong director Nian Mao to resign as the project manager of the two plots of land, so as not to avoid the market accusing Cheung Kong of leading and "working against the government".

Lin Zuhui was also surrounded by reporters at an event to interview this topic, and he said calmly: "At present, major developers are interested in cooperating with the government to crack down on the property market together, and it is not appropriate to chase high investment land, so everyone diversifies their investment." Real estate adjustment is inevitable, and this situation is conducive to the purchase of homes by those who just need it. ”

According to media analysis, Lin Zuhui's family has a big business, and judging by his attitude and behavior, he doesn't seem to care much about real estate profits; This time, the New Era Group joined it, but it was just taking advantage of the trend.

........

On June 2, the Hong Kong government, which has lost "silver paper" and "face", launched more severe measures to crack down on speculation:

Medium- and long-term measures: It is planned to increase the supply of land and increase the supply of "medium-priced" flats in public and private housing within a few years to ensure the stability of the property market.

The measures in the first phase include: internal subscription from 5% to 1%; From the current 2 years before the occupation can be sold, to 6-9 months before the occupation can be sold; The mortgage will be increased from the current 5% to 10%, and so on.

Hong Kong government officials said that the reduction of government tax revenue is not the most important consideration, and the most important thing is to enable ordinary citizens to afford to buy their ideal flats.

Hong Kong real estate developers have wisely issued a statement saying that they "agree in principle" with the Hong Kong government's measures to crack down on speculation.

Leung Chi-kin, spokesman for the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong and general manager of New World Development, expressed support in principle for the Hong Kong government's measures to curb property prices, and believed that the measures could effectively prevent speculators from entering the market. However, there are reservations about measures to shorten the time it takes to sell a property and restrict purchasers from signing a deed before resale of a property.

"The measures announced this time are very comprehensive, with a combination of short-term measures to crack down on speculators entering the market, curbing property prices, and long-term measures to increase land supply, which can alleviate the tight demand for housing in Hong Kong," he said. The Real Estate Developers Association will try its best to cooperate with the Government to comply with and implement the announced measures. ”

After the implementation of the measures, the Hong Kong property market has gradually become speculative, and property prices have fallen.

Users are happy, speculators are stupid, and developers are pessimistic.

.......

In the conference room of the New Era Group, Lin Zuhui gathered some high-level executives and formulated a new strategy.

Lin Zuhui said: "The official land auction will be purchased as usual, but it should not be too prominent, and it will be good if it can sit firmly on the four major real estate developers in Xiangjiang and maintain a stable land reserve." ”

He doesn't participate in official land auctions much now, so I would like to remind everyone. Of course, before each official land auction, he must have detailed information and pre-eucalyptus, and he will communicate with Chen Bin and them.

Chen Bin nodded and said, "Okay, I understand what the boss meant." ”

Everyone has expressed their agreement, and they can also understand the attitude of the boss, the new era group now has a large proportion of comprehensive investment, and is no longer a simple development real estate developer.

Lin Zuhui said: "Although this year's housing has fallen by 15% compared with the beginning of the year, but the market transaction will not immediately meet the cold, the sales department should hurry up to sell the real estate, the price should not drive the price and then reduce the price, but you can engage in some promotional activities, such as lottery to send gold, European and American tourism...... In short, we need to put more effort into selling, but don't take the lead in lowering prices. ”

This so-called price reduction is the meaning of 'not top the bad market', what is the price of the surrounding real estate, that is, what is the price, and do not engage in vicious competition.

Chen Xiaofen said: "Okay, we must put more effort into sales. ”

Lin Zuhui nodded, and said to everyone: "Actually, even if the New Era Group does not sell well in this adjustment period, the impact on the group is not particularly large. And I have always believed that this adjustment was caused by internal challenges, and was far less deterrent than external factors. Therefore, as soon as the adjustment period passes, housing prices will rise sharply, which is why I am not in a hurry. ”

For the analysis of their own boss, everyone has always been very positive.

Liang Zhenxun nodded and said, "There is no problem with finances!" ”

Although the boss arranged another 5 billion Hong Kong dollars in stock investment, out of trust in the boss, Liang Zhenxun believes that these investments will have very considerable profits. For example, the U.S. stocks invested in have made about 10% of the profits this year, and the total market value has reached $1 billion (with a total investment of $450 million).

In addition, the company can also have a lot of income this year, and it is not impossible to save 8 billion ~ 10 billion at the end of the year.

Soon, everyone knew how to develop in the next year or so.