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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Housing Authority's (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) today (October 20) approved the average selling prices for the sale of surplus Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats under Phase 5.
A total of 1,392 flats will be put up for sale under Phase 5 and the selling prices are set in accordance with the established mechanism. A discount of 30% is offered to the assessed market values and the prices for the flats in Yau Chui Court Stage I, an unsold block in Yau Tong, range from about $980,000 to $2,290,000 and those for the scattered flats in seven other courts from the lowest of about $460,000 in Po Ming Court, Tseung Kwan O, to the highest of about $1,980,000 in Ying Fuk Court, Wong Tai Sin. (See table for details)
In setting the sale price of the surplus HOS flats, reference has been made to the sale transactions of comparable properties in the vicinity and the ability of eligible buyers to afford them. Due regard has also been given to the fact that the surplus HOS flats have been completed for some time and that some of them are returned flats and have been occupied before.
Applications for the purchase of the surplus HOS flats under Phase 5 will be invited at end October. Selection of flats by successful applicants is scheduled to start from December. Further details on the application will be announced later this month.
The SHC today also endorsed the income and asset limits for White Form (WF) applicants for the surplus HOS flats.
Based on the established review mechanism, the income limit for family applicants will be $23,000 per month and the asset limit will be $790,000. In line with previous practice, the income and asset limits for one-person applicants will be set at half of the limits for family applicants.
The income and asset limits are revised based on the established methodology and calculated with reference to the latest property prices, mortgage rates and non-housing expenditure of households to reflect the latest market conditions. With the endorsed income and asset limits, it is estimated that there would be around 82,300 non-owner occupied households in the private sector falling within the HOS eligibility net, who can be potential WF applicants.
The following are details of the respective income and asset limits for the sale of surplus HOS flats under Phase 5:
Household Size Income Limit# Asset Limit
1 person $11,500 ($12,100) $395,000
2 persons or above* $23,000 ($24,200) $790,000
* For large families with seven persons or more, the higher corresponding Waiting List income limits would apply, i.e. $23,400, $24,800, $27,500 and $28,700 for WF applicants with seven persons, eight persons, nine persons and 10 or more persons respectively.
# Figures in () denote the effective income limits should a household be contributing 5% of its income under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme as required by the law.
Ends/Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:27
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