CK Asset Sells Flat in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels for $34M

A high-level unit at CK Asset’s 21 Borrett Road project in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels was sold for HK$91,895 per square foot last week, setting a new record for a non-penthouse unit at the luxury residential property, despite sales at the project having halved during the first five months of 2022, according to public records posted by the developer.

Cherrie Lai, senior director and head of residential sales for development and investment of prestige homes at Savills Hong Kong said, “There have been five transactions for 21 Borrett Road in 2022,” and noted that price points for those sales showed a steady upward trend, despite the quantity of homes sold during the year’s first five months equalling just half of the volume recorded from January through May of 2021.

An unnamed buyer is paying HK$270.6 million for the 20th-floor flat, which was sold following purchases of two smaller units in the property just downhill from Victoria Peak at an average of about HK$88,000 per square foot. The price for this recent transaction was justified by the “scarcity of spacious apartments” in the Mid-Levels, Lai noted.

Borrett Road Buys

Including last week’s transaction, Hong Kong’s second-largest developer by market capitalisation has sold 33 out of 115 units since sales at the first phase of the super-luxury project began in February 2021, bringing in a combined total of HK$6.8 billion.

The five-bedroom apartment sold last week is part of 21 Borrett Road’s first phase, comprising 115 units across three residential towers. The 2,945 square foot (273 square metre) unit is the third-largest high floor unit still available in the development, said Savills’ Lai.

“More mainland buyers are expected to re-enter Hong Kong’s luxury residential market when travel borders with China reopen after 1 July, yet the supply of high-end homes in the Mid-Levels is low,” said Vincent Cheung, managing director at Vincorn Consulting and Appraisal. “This means investors will be more willing to pay a premium to acquire prime properties like the apartments at 21 Borrett Road,” he said.

During the first half of 2021, a set of three 23rd-floor duplexes sold at rates as high as HK$136,000 per square foot, according to sources familiar with the deal who spoke with Mingtiandi.

The price tag for Unit 1 on the 20th floor was higher than the average cost of HK$79,558 per square foot for homes at 21 Borrett Road – excluding the duplex units on the 23rd floor, market sources told Mingtiandi.

Excluding 21 Borrett Road, which commands a premium for its location, views and amenities, average prices for new homes measuring 1,000 square feet or more in the Mid-Levels was around $43,000 per square foot, according to Alex Leung, senior director with property consultancy CHFT.

“The Mid-Levels is a traditional luxury area for the upper class in Hong Kong, as it is in close proximity to the Central business district, (the political centre), and good school networks,” said Leung.

Last month, a 2,771 square foot home in the first phase of Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Central Peak project in the Mid-Levels East sold for HK$288 million, also setting a record high price per unit of area in that project of HK$103,934, according to transaction records posted by the developer.

Luxury Locations

During the first five months of 2022, there were just 890 sales of homes costing HK$20 million or above, compared to 1,782 during the same period last year, according to Keith Chan, director and head of research at Cushman & Wakefield Hong Kong.

Despite the drop in high-end purchases, Hong Kong Island’s traditional luxury neighbourhoods continued to see big-ticket transactions, with last week’s sale at 21 Borrett Road having taken place a month after a pair of buyers purchased two units on the 21st floor of the development for a combined HK$393.9 million.

Among the transactions that took place in May, unit 6 on the 21st floor was said to have sold for HK$190.1 million to Barton Wong, who was identified in local news reports this month as a director of real estate investment firm Edward Wong Group. Meanwhile, the adjacent unit reportedly sold for HK$203.8 million to model Ingrid Louise Wong, who is believed to be related to her next-door neighbour.

Earlier this month, a 7,986 square foot detached house on 6 Perkins Road in Jardine’s Lookout was said to have sold for HK$750 million to Michael Wu, chairman of Hong Kong restaurant group Maxim’s, according to local media.