Prices plummet for Victoria Park Lunar New Year stalls

Prices for Victoria Park Lunar New Year stalls plummeted on the first day of auctions in Hong Kong on Tuesday – most likely a result of fears of ongoing protest actions affecting the event. 

According to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, 86 wet-goods stalls and three fast-food stalls were successfully let in an auction for stalls at next year’s Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair. The average bid price for the wet-goods stalls was $6575, with the successful bids ranging from $5440 to $17,000. The highest bid of $17,000 was about three times the opening price of $5440. 

That represents a massive decline on last year’s first day of auctions, when the average bid price for wet-goods stalls was $29,881, and successful bids ranged from $10,880 to $82,000. The highest bid of $82,000 was about 7.5 times the opening price of $10,880. Last year, 180 wet-goods stalls and three fast-food stalls were successfully let on the opening day of auctions.

The change in the average price for the wet-goods stalls calculates out at a 78-per-cent decline.

Tuesday’s auction of stalls fetched a total of $565,417, while last years first day raked in $5,378,608 and 2017’s auction raised $4,269,150. While only 89 spaces were sold this year compared with 183 last year, the total raised by the auction was substantially down.

For the fast-food stalls, the 7.6 x 4.8 metre stall was bid yesterday at $202,000, against an opening price of $187,430. The winning bids for the two 5 x 4m stalls were $100,590 and $100,390, against an opening price of $100,390.

Last year’s auction saw the 7.6 x 4.8 metre stall fetch $520,000, against an opening price of $374,850. The winning bids for the two 5 x 4 metre stalls were $410,000 and $400,000, against an opening price of $200,780.

There will be a further auction for the remaining 96 wet-goods stalls today (Wednesday).

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