New Territories homes lose their discounts to Kowloon as Hong Kong’s longest subway line closes distances and narrows price gaps
- The game changer began in December 2003, when MTR Corporation started developing its 27-station Tuen Ma line
- By the time the Yuen Long station opened in June, average prices in the area had risen
Hong Kong’s New Territories, the area south of the city’s border with China, is no longer as inaccessible as in decades past, as new transport links closed the distance with Kowloon and the rest of the city.
The price gap between such New Territories districts like Sha Tin, and areas on the Kowloon peninsula like Tai Kok Tsui has also narrowed, underscoring the changing trends as first-home buyers and younger couples moved out further afield from Hong Kong Island.
The change began in December 2003 with the opening of the Tuen Ma line by the MTR Corporation, the city’s subway operator. The line, which is now 56km (34.8 miles) long and runs from Tuen Mun – formerly Castle Peak – in the western end of Kowloon to the Wu Kai Sha station in Ma On Shan in the east, links 25 stations in between as the city’s longest public transport link.
“From a long-term perspective, the prices of properties along the New Territories’ Tuen Ma MTR line will experience a definite increase,” said Joseph Tsang, chairman of JLL in Hong Kong.
The price gap between Kowloon and New Territories has narrowed from HK$4,000 per square foot in 2010, to about HK$1,700 per square foot according to recent sales launches, said Tsang.
