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1. New numbers for routes help drivers go with the flow

2. Scrapping of loan scheme may hit small projects

3. Supply of new flats to peak in 2008: report

4. MTR's Tsing Yi hotel derailed

5. MTRC flats are on track as scheduled

6. Greening KCRC Ma On Shan Rail

1. New numbers for routes help drivers go with the flow
JOSEPH LO, SCMP 4 June 2004

A campaign has been launched by the Transport Department to educate drivers about the new $3.1 million route and exit-numbering system on road signs.

The department hopes the system will make it easier and safer for drivers to navigate an increasingly complex highway network.

Besides moving to a route-numbering system to replace highway names, the department has also introduced an exit-numbering system and better advance-signing system in a bid to reduce accidents.

The government already refers to new highway projects - such as Routes 3 and 9 - by a numerical system, but this project brings the system into wider use.

Under the new system, Route 1 will include the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, Route 2 the Eastern Harbour Crossing and Route 3 the Western Harbour Crossing.

Along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, the original Routes 7 and 8 have been combined and renumbered as Route 4, while the section of the original Route 2 running from Kowloon Bay to Tsuen Wan has become Route 5.

The original Route 4 has been renamed Route 7, while the original Route 9 on Lantau, the so-called Lantau Link that includes the Tsing Ma Bridge, has been renamed Route 8.

The single New Territories loop is named Route 9, while the Route 6 designation has been reserved for use on a future highway.

Exits from each of those highways have now been assigned numbers in sequence.

Department engineer Johnny Chan Chun-ping said the improved systems were fully in place, and modification of more than 1,400 signs was completed last month.

"The new route numbering system will make it easier for drivers to plan routes, since they won't have to remember road names anymore," he said.

"Also, the numbered exit system will give drivers ample warning that their exit is coming up, allowing them to change lanes much earlier. This will increase road safety."

The project, which Mr Chan said cost $3.1 million, rationalises the route numbering system that has been in place since 1974.

A 30-second television commercial on the project was launched last night in Cantonese, with a subtitled version for the English-language channels.

The department has printed 450,000 leaflets featuring a map and route details for drivers that are available at tunnel toll booths and Transport Department licensing offices.

The system will also be publicised through radio advertisements.

The new numbering system is based on a consultancy study completed in 2002.

2. Scrapping of loan scheme may hit small projects
Raymond Wang, The Standard 4 June 2004

Small projects in the New Territories are expected to be hit by the Housing Authority's decision to scrap a loan scheme for low-income homebuyers in the private market, according to a leading developer.

``Flats priced below HK$1.5 million at some projects in Yuen Long will be affected by the decision,'' Cheung Kong (Holdings) senior sales manager William Kwok said.

``Sales of small residential projects may slow because of an expected fall in demand from first time buyers.''

He said Cheung Kong, which focuses mainly on large-scale projects, would not be affected.

The authority's decision, announced on Wednesday as part of a move away from direct involvement in the private property market, was welcomed by some developers and agents.

Ricacorp Properties managing director Ivan Ho supported the government's move, saying the authority can better utilise its resources to build more rental homes for the public.

The scheme provides interest-free loans of up to HK$530,000 or monthly mortgage subsidies of up to HK$3,800 to help low-income individuals and families buy flats. ``First-time buyers and low-income families, who will no longer be subsidised by the government, can choose other home mortgage products such as second mortgage loans and 90 per cent mortgages being jointly offered by banks and developers,'' he said.

Ho said the general residential market was unlikely to be hurt and affordability is no longer an issue for homebuyers.

However, Centaline Property Agency said first-time buyers are likely to be hardest hit by the authority's decision.
The agency predicted that prices and the transaction volume for small homes valued at less than HK$1.5 million could fall by 5 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, in the short term due to an expected decline in the number of first-time buyers.

The Housing Authority also announced it will release up to 25,000 low-cost flats for sale by the end of the year.

Cheung Kong's Kwok said the price of the flats, most of which should cost less than HK$300,000, should not affect the private property market because they are pegged to low-income tenants.

``We are talking about different markets as we are selling flats for about HK$3 million each,'' he added.

The authority said a batch of 5,100 flats in Cheung Wah Estate, Fan Ling, will go on sale by the end of this month pending the completion of a drainage survey and repair work.

Flats in three remaining estates, including Lei Tung, Po Lam and Shan King, will be sold in stages in the coming months The total number of homes is about 25,000 this year.

3. Supply of new flats to peak in 2008: report
Danny Chung, The Standard 4 June 2004

The number of completed flats in Hong Kong is set to peak in 2007-2008 despite a widely expected shortage in the supply of flats, according to HSBC Securities.

In its latest report on the housing market, the securities house said the latest Buildings Department statistics showed that construction started on 8,957 new flats in the first four months of this year - up 298 per cent year on year.

This would translate into 26,871 units due for completion in 2007, ``well above the government's incomplete projection of 7,000 units'', the report said.

``When practically everyone expects a supply shortage, it tends not to happen,'' HSBC analyst Derek Cheung said. He added that bullish sentiment for developers toward the medium-to-long term housing market would translate into a sustained increase in the rate of construction.

``We believe this will propel completions to another peak in 2007-2008, as opposed to a supply shortage envisioned by the market,'' he said.

From August to April, construction had started on about 22,000 units.

Last month, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen said a total of 7,000 private units would be completed in 2007, up from the 4,000 units forecast in October.

Cheung said the market generally took Suen's figure at face value and did not factor in completed unsold inventory as well as projects due to start from this month.

The report offered several reasons why the forecast supply shortage may not happen. The main reason is that the vacancy rate remains at a record 6.8 per cent, or 68,800 units at the end of last year, despite a turnaround in the housing market after the Sars crisis.

This was up from the 6.6 per cent, or 65,270 units, at the end of 2002.

The vacancy rate would take two to three years to return to its normal level of 5 per cent.

The 20,000 Home Ownership Scheme units that the government said would not go on sale before the end of 2006 could be made immediately available if demand increased, the report said.

Oversupply would remain a serious problem due to unsold inventory in the primary market that at the end of last month was estimated at 32,432 units. This included stock that was completed as far back as 1999.

``We do not expect the equilibrium to resume before the end of 2005,'' Cheung said.

Compounding the matter even further were flats due to come on stream from 2007 from, among others, the MTRC, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA).

The MTRC, for instance, is looking to launch the first batch of 2,000 units out of about 21,500 units at Area 86 in Tseung Kwan O in 2007. All in all, total flat production at the MTRC and KCRC's Ma On Shan and West Rail lines would reach 54,420 units.

The URA plans to call for tenders for six projects this year in locations like Wan Chai, Sham Shui Po and Tsuen Wan, with 1,968 units due for completion after 2007.

And if that wasn't enough, the major developers are looking at ``a huge amount of land premium conversion''.

The agricultural land banks of the four major developers could produce 250,333 units, or 8.8 times times the primary market absorption in 2003.

In October, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land Development and HKR International were reported as having about 9.1 million square feet of farm sites under negotiation for land premium conversion, enough for 22,000 units.

4. MTR's Tsing Yi hotel derailed
Raymond Wang, The Standard 4 June 2004

MTR Corp plans to build a three-storey shopping mall near Tsing Yi Station, instead of the 17-storey hotel it planned originally.

An MTR spokesman confirmed that it has decided to scrap plans to convert a bus terminal beside Tsing Yi Station into a mid-tariff hotel after objections from the Town Planning Board and neighbouring residents.

The shopping mall project could generate a total gross floor area of about 129,168 square feet. ``Firstly, we will consult nearby residents before submitting the revised plan to the government, hopefully later this year,'' he added.

Total investment has not been worked out.

The company originally planned to convert the bus terminal on a 1.6-hectare site into a 17-storey hotel project, providing a total gross floor area of about 866,000 sqft.

The Town Planning Board recently rejected MTR's fourth application for the hotel plan because the high-density development would have hampered traffic. The project was also facing opposition from nearby residents who said their views would have been blocked.

Separately, Cheung Kong Holdings intends to buy the remaining 60 per cent stake in a hotel joint-venture project in To Kwa Wan from its two partners for about HK$60 million to take advantage of the growing number of mainland tourists, sources said.

The project is part of the Sky Tower development, co-developed with New World Development and Shanghai Industrial Holdings, which have 40 per cent and 20 per cent stakes in the project, respectively.

Cheung Kong executive director Justin Chiu said the company did not rule out the possibility of buying the remaining stake as a long-term investment if the price is favourable. ``We are optimistic about the long-term outlook for the hotel industry.''

Analysts said an increasing number of developers are keen to build hotels in urban areas given the continued influx of mainland tourists and a shortage of hotel rooms over the next couple of years, especially in medium-tariff hotels. Laws International Holdings

recently won planning approval to convert its Lai Chi Kok industrial tower into a 22-storey, 684-room hotel.

5. MTRC flats are on track as scheduled
PEGGY SITO, SCMP 4 June 2004

The MTR Corp has no plans to speed up its property development schedule, despite concerns of a potential flat-supply shortage in Hong Kong as early as 2006.

Chairman Raymond Chien Kuo-fung said the railway company would start tendering the first phase of its Dreamcity property development in Tseung Kwan O by the end of this year as planned.

"New units would be available in 2007," Mr Chien said.

After the company's annual general meeting, he said: "We don't have plans to speed up the development schedule."

Some property experts have suggested that the two rail companies, MTR Corp and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp, put their projects on the market ahead of schedule to help boost flat supplies by 2006.

Government estimates released last month estimate new home completions at 16,000 in 2006 and just 7,000 in 2007. Average annual take-up is projected at more than 20,000 flats.

MTR Corp property director Thomas Ho Hang-kwong explained that the master layout plan of Dreamcity would be submitted to the government for approval this month.

Based on normal procedures, the project would be ready for tendering only in the fourth quarter of this year.

The company will include 2,000 flats in the first-phase tender.

Mr Ho said the project, which includes 21,500 flats in total, would be tendered out in five or six phases over 10 years.

Meanwhile, the company yesterday reiterated its calls for subsidies from the government for two rail projects on Hong Kong Island.

Chief executive Chow Chung-kwong said the two rail lines - the West Island line running between Sheung Wan and Wong Chuk Hang, and the South Island line running from Admiralty to South Horizons - would help improve the city's transport system.

He estimated the projects would create 20,000 jobs.

6. Greening KCRC Ma On Shan Rail
KCRC Press Release, 30 May 2004

Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) launched the “Greening Ma On Shan Rail” tree-planting campaign today at Sha Tin Wai. Led by Mr K K Lee, KCRC Senior Director, Capital Projects, Mr Wai Kwok Hung, Chairman of Sha Tin District Council, and the Chairmen of four Sha Tin Area Committees, some 200 residents and students of Ma On Shan joined hands to plant for their community.

"KCRC has always been committed to protecting the environment. We note that Ma On Shan is an environmental new town, and have made every effort to keep it green when designing Ma On Shan Rail," said Mr K K Lee at the ceremony.

"Most of the railway is built on viaducts along the central divider of highways. This does not only maximise the use of land, but also avoids affecting the trees by the roadsides and provides ample space for greening underneath the viaducts,” Mr Lee added.

Upon completion of the project, the number of trees along Ma On Shan Rail will increase from around 5,000 to some 6,000 and a greater variety of plants will be introduced.

The “Greening Ma On Shan Rail” project will continue along the alignment. Two more tree planting days will be held at City One Station and Ma On Shan Station on two consecutive Sundays on 4 and 11 July 2004 respectively.

Ma On Shan Rail is an 11.4-km railway with nine stations, namely, Tai Wai, Che Kung Temple, Sha Tin Wai, City One, Shek Mun, Tai Shui Hang, Heng On, Ma On Shan and Wu Kai Sha. The stations are within walking distance of the area's major residential developments for easy access.

Construction works of Ma On Shan Rail are now 95% complete. Testing and commissioning of railway systems and limited trial runs are underway. When the railway comes into service, it will only take around 30 minutes to travel from Ma On Shan to the heart of Kowloon

Ma On Shan Rail is 11.4 km in length and runs mostly on viaducts. When Ma On Shan Rail comes into operation, it takes only around 30 minutes to travel from Ma On Shan to the heart of Kowloon.

Mr. K K Lee, KCRC Senior Director, Capital Projects, Mr. Wai Kwok Hung, Chairman of Sha Tin District Council and the Chairmen of 4 Sha Tin Area Committees joined hands in "Greening Ma On Shan Rail."