Three lots auctioned in Hong Kong with "satisfactory" prices

The Hong Kong government conducted its second land auction in fiscal year 2011 (starting from April 1, 2011) on Thursday, selling three lots at the high end of estimated prices, showing strong needs in the market.
The around 14,700-square-meter site, locating in the Hong Kong island, attracted most developers' attention as it was believed a good choice for building luxurious properties. The site was sold at 4.49 billion HK dollars (0.58 billion U.S. dollars), up 45 percent from its starting price of 3.1 billion HK dollars.
The other two sites, situating in districts of Kowloon and the New Territories, were sold at 579 million HK dollars and 662 million HK dollars respectively, also reaching the high-end of formerly estimated prices.
Graham Ross, the auctioneer, said the result of the auction was quite "satisfactory", which showed developers' strong interests for the property as well as the market needs.
After keeping climbing up in past two years, Hong Kong's housing market still soared in 2011, with its February's overall housing price reaching the peak level in 1997.
To clamp down on property prices, the city government has vowed to increase land supply as well as curbing speculative activities in the market. (1 U.S. dollar is equivalent to 7.77 HK dollars)
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