Hong Kong's latest land sale fell below analysts' forecasts on Wednesday as the government ramps up measures to rein in soaring property prices in the densely populated metropolis.

Chinachem Group, one of the city's biggest developers, snapped up the residential site in the Kowloon district for 2.17 billion Hong Kong dollars (280 million US dollars). That was below a prediction of 2.69 billion Hong Kong dollars made by six analysts and surveyors polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

New property rules and a maximum height restriction on the 7,000 square metre (75,000 square foot) site were probably behind its lower-than-expected sale price, said Yu Kam-Hung, a senior managing director at CB Richard Ellis.

"I think developers will start to take a more conservative view of the property market," he told AFP. "This shows the government measures are working."

A clamour of public protest at soaring property prices has pushed the financial hub's government to take action over the past year.

It has staged nine land sales to boost supply and cool the market amid fears of a housing-price bubble in the former British colony.

Some lawmakers have called for the resumption of a subsidised housing scheme due to concerns about the city's growing income gap.

Last month, Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang outlined a fresh batch of measures to rein in the property market, which included setting out new rules on flat sizes. The measures also halt automatic residency for rich property buyers from outside the territory.

The latter move is expected to affect wealthy mainland Chinese investors, who account for as much as half of luxury homes sales in Hong Kong, stoking claims that speculators are adding to the sharp price rise.

Hong Kong luxury home prices recently topped their pre-Asian financial crisis peak in 1997, according to government data released in October.

Average prices for homes of at least 100 square metres (1,100 square feet) were 14 percent above what they fetched before the 1997 downturn, according to the figures.

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