HK - Housing 01 (May 08 - Aug 11)

[winston]

Hong Kong luxury property on market for record price

HONG KONG (AFP) - – Two penthouses in Hong Kong were each put on sale for a record 38.5 million US dollars, a developer said Friday, as demand from wealthy Chinese buyers has sent prices in the city soaring.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090918/t ... 86404.html

[winston]

Hong Kong Can’t Buy Enough Homes at Prices Before Lehman Bust By Chia-Peck Wong

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund manager Pan Lin Feng and two friends sensed opportunity when Hong Kong property prices plunged 20 percent last year after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed.

In November, they bought a 1,500-square-foot apartment, more than double the size of a typical Hong Kong flat, in the affluent Mid-Levels district for HK$9.8 million ($1.26 million) from an owner shoring up stock and property losses. In July, the trio was offered HK$15 million.

http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2060 ... S5fiqAcrbk

[winston]

Mainlanders high on Hong Kong housing By Dai Ping

A 56-year-old businessman from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province surnamed Chen had a hankering for a home in Hong Kong. So in mid-September he took a tour organized by Hong Kong developers for mainland property buyers and found what he was looking for: a HK$17 million ($2.19 million) flat with a full view of Victoria Harbor.

"I plan to emigrate to Hong Kong," said Chen. "The loan rates here have been historically low for the last decade or so, and purchasing property here is advantageous for me due to the strong yuan. So I spent more than HK$10 million ($1.29 million) for an apartment in order to apply for the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES) and live in Hong Kong later," said Chen.

http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/ ... using.html

[winston]

Aberdeen Trims China, Hong Kong Property Bets as Market Soars By Patrick Rial

Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Aberdeen Asset Management Co. has trimmed its holdings of real-estate developers as surging prices in China, Hong Kong and Macau fuel concerns the property market may be overheating.

“Since March, the market was too fast in terms of a recovery,” Nicholas Yeo, head of Hong Kong and China equities, said in an interview yesterday at Aberdeen, which manages $38 billion in Asian equities. In terms of property stocks, “we’ve done what we wanted to do.”

The Hang Seng Property Index has rallied 81 percent in the past seven months, outpacing the Hang Seng Index’s 65 percent gain.

[bLuxury home prices in Hong Kong climbed as much as 28 percent in the first nine months of the year, [/b]according to Colliers International Ltd.

Yeo declined to say which stocks his fund sold. Swire Pacific Ltd., the biggest commercial landlord in eastern Hong Kong Island, is the seventh-largest holding in Aberdeen’s Asia Pacific Equity Fund, according to a September report from the asset manager.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... ohHa5HKBE4

[winston]

Hong Kong's luxury living draws mainland Chinese

HONG KONG : Mainland Chinese once fled to the slums of Hong Kong's Kowloon to escape poverty, war and communism but many mainlanders in the district these days are seeking swimming pools and harbour views.

Their tastes are also reshaping the market, with Kowloon fast becoming the prime site for expensive apartments, supplanting traditionally pricey areas on Hong Kong island like the Peak and the Mid-Levels.

Agents cite residency as a major draw since the city introduced a scheme in 2003 that gives temporary resident status to foreigners investing at least 6.5 million Hong Kong dollars (about 840,000 US) in Hong Kong assets.

Seven years of temporary residency can lead to permanent right of abode.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 9/1/.html#

[millionairemind]

Hong Kong May Revise Land Supply Policy, Tsang Says (Update2)
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By Nipa Piboontanasawat and Joshua Fellman

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said record prices for some apartments have generated concerns of a possible property bubble, so the government may revise its policy to speed up land supply.

Tsang said the government will closely monitor “market changes” in coming months, and may have the Urban Renewal Authority and subway operator MTR Corp., both government- controlled, bring readily available building sites to market.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... SJBBOhO05E

[millionairemind]

Hong Kong flat sets new record price

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2f1ddc6a-b941-1 ... s01=1.html

By Tom Mitchell in Hong Kong

Published: October 15 2009 05:28 | Last updated: October 15 2009 05:28

A Hong Kong property developer has sold a duplex apartment for a world record price, less than three months after the territory technically emerged from recession.

Henderson Land, controlled by tycoon Lee Shau-kee, said it had sold the property on Hong Kong island for HK$71,280 (US$9,200) per square foot, or HK$439m, to a buyer from mainland China.

....

[peter]

Hm....

If the top end of HK properties can reach S$15,000 psf, why can't the top end ones of Spore - Admore, St Regis, Sentosa Cove, Hamilton Scotts, ION etc reach S$5,000 psf in the near future?

[LenaHuat]

I suppose it will happen should the CEO of HongKong Bank (who is relocating from London to HK) relocate from HK to Singapore Are there 'pull' factors ?

[bluechipstamp]

If the top end of HK properties can reach S$15,000 psf, why can't the top end ones of Spore - Admore, St Regis, Sentosa Cove, Hamilton Scotts, ION etc reach S$5,000 psf in the near future?

Er... why stop at comparing with HK?

Tokyo properties hit S$150,000 psf during the peak. Should we extrapolate that HK properties can still be a 10x bagger, and SG a 30x bagger?