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The Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority (SRPA) today (August 20) issued a new Practice Note (PN) to require that, if and when vendors of first-hand residential properties make public the total number of registrations of intent and/or cashier orders they have received in respect of a development or a phase of a development, they should also provide at the same time the number of registrations of intent and/or cashier orders which are submitted by estate agents and/or salespersons for themselves.
Also, the SRPA advised in the PN that vendors should adopt a "self-declared" method by including a statement in the registration of intent form for registrants to indicate whether any of the registrants is an estate agent and/or a salesperson who is involved in the sale/purchase of the development/phase concerned. This will enable vendors to get hold of the information.
"The new measures as set out in the PN will give a fuller picture to prospective purchasers on the sources of the registrations of intent and/or cashier orders received by the vendors, as and when vendors publicise the number of registrations of intent and/or cashier orders they have received in respect of a development/phase. This is conducive to further enhancing transparency in the sale of first-hand residential properties," a spokesman for the SRPA said.
The SRPA expects vendors to start taking on board the SRPA's advice as set out in the PN from September 21, 2015.
"Given that the number of registrations of intent and/or cashier orders received by the vendors in respect of a development/phase is affected by many factors, the SRPA reminds prospective purchasers to take the figures as a reference only, but not as an indicator of the sales volume of a development/phase.
"Prospective purchasers are advised to look up the register of transactions of a development or a phase of a development on the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Electronic Platform to get hold of the actual sale situation of a development/phase," the spokesman said.
The full text of the PN is available at the SRPA's website (www.srpa.gov.hk/en/practice-notes.html).
Ends/Thursday, August 20, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:30
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