Leading today’s Hong Kong real estate news, a retail unit in Kowloon’s Jordan area was sold for HK$19 million — 50 percent below the original asking price. In the residential realm, a villa at Henderson Land’s Beverly Hills project in Taipo was sold at a loss of HK$3.78 million, while three luxury units in phase eight of Sino Land’s Mayfair by the Sea were also sold at a discount.
Also in the headlines, investment from mainland Chinese and other overseas buyers has fallen by nearly three quarters and some of the city’s biggest landlords have begun deploying robots to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jordan Retail Unit Sells for 50% Off
A street-front shop in Jordan has changed hands for HK$19 million ($2.45 million) after the seller lowered the asking price by 50 percent, according to a local media report last week.
The seller, a private investor named Daren Wong Wai Chau sold the 548 square foot (50.9 square metre) ground floor unit at 14-20 Pilkem Street for the equivalent of HK$34,672 per square foot. According to Land Registry records, Wong had acquired the unit in the Fu Lee Commercial Building in 2010 for HK$22.73 million, which indicates that the seller lost HK$3.73 million after holding the property for 10 years. Currently, the retail space is leased to a food shop for HK$60,000 per month,which would provide a 3.8 percent rental yield.
A real estate agent cited in the account said that the retail unit was sold 15 percent below market rates. Read More>>
Tai Po Villa Sells for HK$2.7M Loss
An individual buyer named Sze Lai Mang, who has the same name as a director of private firm Everon Investment Development Limited, has splashed out HK$19 million for a luxury villa in a posh precinct of Hong Kong’s new territories, according to public records. Sze acquired the 1,902 square foot Boulevard de Foret house at Henderson Land’s Beverly Hills Phase 1 in the Tai Po area for the equivalent of HK$9,989 per square foot, according to transaction records released on Mar 31.
Private investor Lin Zhangli had acquired the home for HK$21.67 million in 2007, incurring a loss of HK$2.67 million, or HK$3.78 million after stamp duty and commission. Read More>>
Sino Land Tai Po Project Sells Three Homes in One Day
Another high-end Tai Po project, Hong Kong developer Sino Land’s Mayfair by the Sea, sold three units in one day recently, helping the builder bring in HK$30.51 million in revenue, according to a local news report on Easter Sunday. Ranging from 700 to 794 square feet in saleable area, the units in phase eight of the development were sold from around HK$9.32 million to HK$11.26 million.
May Fair By the Sea 8 launched initial sales of its 528 units in January of last year by offering the first tranche of 108 homes at average prices of HK$13,228 per square foot — or about 30 percent less than other projects then on sale in the area, according to a local media report at the time. So far the project has sold 434 of 528 units, with average prices having increased to as much as HK$17,000. Read More>>
Hong Kong Stamp Duty Revenues Drop 73%
Hong Kong’s income from buyers’ stamp duty, a 15 percent surcharge applied to home purchases by out of town buyers, dropped 92.7 percent over the past six months to fall to just HK$63.9 million in March, according to data released by the Inland Revenue Department on April 9.
March was one of Hong Kong’s least active months for property purchases by non-residents and corporate buyers in the most recent half year, with the number of transactions also dropping by 86 percent to total just 42 deals last month. Read More>>
Malls and Offices Deploy Robots to Reduce Human Contact
Landlords in Hong Kong and mainland China are embracing new technologies in a bid ensure staff and visitor safety amid the current virus crisis, with some prime offices and shopping malls in Hong Kong’s Central and Quarry Bay areas beginning to deploy robots in place of human workers to clean common areas, according to a local news report.
Infinitus Plaza in Sheung Wan is said to have switched to mechanised moppers and property consultancy JLL is also said to be employing robots in its offices in One Taikoo Place and Dorset House in Quarry Bay.
Swire Properties, which owns One Taikoo Place and Dorset House, is also said to have turned to the machine world to keep clean its HKRI Taikoo Hui complex in Shanghai as well as its One Indigo office tower in Beijing. Read More>>
Tune in again later this week for more Hong Kong news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen
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