HONG KONG – Applications for more than 7,000 subsidized flats under Hong Kong's Sale of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Flats 2024 scheme will be accepted from Oct 3 to Oct 23, according to the Housing Authority.

Eligible residents, including families with newborns, will enjoy a 30-percent discount from the assessed market values if their applications are successful.

Total 7,132 HOS flats will be put up for sale in five new developments – Kai Ying Court in Kai Tak, Ko Hei Court in Yau Tong, On Pak Court in Kwun Tong, Yu Hing Court in Tung Chung and Siu Wu Court in Tuen Mun.

The prices will range from HK$1.43 million ($183,400) to HK$4.67 million, with an average selling price of about HK$2.7 million, the Housing Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.

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Around 70 rescinded flats from Kam Chun Court in Ma On Shan, Kei Wah Court in North Point, Chiu Ming Court in Tseung Kwan O, Kai Yan Court in Kai Tak, Kwun Shan Court in Ma Tau Kok, On Sau Court in Kwun Tong and Siu Tsui Court in Tuen Mun, as well as about 350 recovered Tenants Purchase Scheme flats will also be available for resale during the HOS sale exercise.

Eligible applicants may submit online applications or paper applications for HOS 2024 either in person or by post and the application fee is HK$290, said an HA spokesman.

Balloting is expected to be held in the fourth quarter of this year, while flat selection is expected to start in the second quarter of 2025.

Based on the average flat selling price at about HK$2.7 million, the mortgage payment is HK$11,600 per month assuming that the buyers take out a mortgage at 90 percent of the flat price at a term of 30 years and an interest rate of 4 percent, said the HA spokesman.

"For one to two-person flats, which we believe will be welcomed by young families and young people, the average selling price is about HK$1.7 million and the mortgage payment is only HK$7,300 per month."

As some banks have just announced to adjust the mortgage interest rate downward, the mortgage payment will also be reduced, the spokesman added.

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The order of priority for flat selection by eligible applicants will be determined by the application category, quota allocation and ballot results. A quota of 2,900 flats will be set for families applying under the Priority Scheme for Families with Elderly Members and the newly introduced Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme, said the spokesman.

Family applicants with babies born on or after Oct 25, 2023, will be eligible to apply for the Priority Newborns Scheme if their babies are aged 3 or below on the closing date of the application of HOS 2024. Separately, a quota of 700 flats will be set for one-person applicants, the spokesman added.

Green Form applicants, same as White Form applicants, should not have owned any domestic property in Hong Kong during the 24 months preceding the closing date for submitting the application up to the time of purchase, the Housing Authority said in the statement.

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Sales booklets, application forms and application guides are available on the Housing Authority's website.

Printed copies can be obtained from the authority's Customer Service Centre in Lok Fu, the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme Sales Unit's office, estate offices and district tenancy management offices, the Housing Society's rental estate offices and the Home Affairs Department's Home Affairs Enquiry Centres, from Wednesday.