Wan Chai Office Units Sell for HK$55K PSF and More Hong Kong Real Estate Headlines

Wan Chai leads the Hong Kong real estate headlines on this last day of the rooster year, as a set of strata office units sell for a record HK$55,000 per square foot. Also in the headlines, property price growth is set to slip from last year’s 14 percent this year, according to DBS Vickers, and mainland tourists aren’t so hot on a boxy, border-hugging outlet mall in San Tin. All these stories and more await you, if you just keep reading.

Wan Chai Office Units Sold as HK’s Second-Priciest

A basket of units in Wan Chai’s Convention Plaza Office Tower has been sold for HK$551 million ($70 million). The combined area of 10,020 square feet (931 square metres) represents a price of HK$55,000 ($7,031) per square foot, which is the highest in the building and the second-highest among the city’s office towers.

The units, 7 through 12 on the 43rd floor, are leased out for a total annual rent of about HK$660,000. The rental yield for the new owner would be 1.44 percent. The seller Hui Wing Mau, chairman of Shimao Property, bought the property in 2002 for HK$49 million ($6.3 million). Read more>>

Property Price Growth Poised To Slip: DBS Vickers

Home prices are tipped to rise this year by only a single digit, unlike last year when prices grew 14 percent, Jeff Yau, research director on Hong Kong property at DBS Vickers, said yesterday.

The property expert predicts that prices of medium and large apartments would grow faster than those of small flats, due to the relaxation of the policy on claiming partial refunds of stamp duty under which the period for filing refund claims has been extended to 12 months, up from six. Read more>>

“Pop-Ip Mall” Flops as Mainland Tourists Steer Clear

Lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong said today that a pop-up mall built near the Lok Ma Chau border to attract mainland shoppers away from North District has failed to meet expectations.

Speaking on a radio program, the lawmaker representing the import and export sector said only 20 shops have opened at The Boxes in San Tin – far short of the number anticipated. The mall, which covers an area of 420,000 square feet, has space for more than 200 shops. Read more>>

MGM Finally Opens Cotai Resort in Macau After Four Delays

MGM Resorts International finally opened its $3.4 billion MGM Cotai casino resort in Macau on Tuesday after a series of delays, saying that it was confident the new property would have enough appeal to offset any loss of momentum due to its late opening.

The resort’s opening has been delayed four times since 2016, while rivals such as Wynn Macau and Sands China already have a presence in the Cotai area of Macau and have started to build up their customer base, particularly among Chinese tourists. Read more>>

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