By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-31 01:31:23 | Updated at 2025-04-01 19:45:44
1 day ago
Celebrities, tycoons and other wealthy investors have been snapping up luxury homes in Hong Kong on the cheap, as the prices of these exclusive abodes have plunged by as much as 45 per cent from their peaks amid high interest rates.
A surge in discount selling by cash-strapped owners has sparked something of a frenzy among well-heeled buyers, pushing demand for upscale homes up by as much as 50 per cent from last year, according to agents.
For example, Cantopop singer Gloria Tang Tze-kei this month acquired two flats in Wan Chai at a 35 per cent discount off of the peak price three years ago. The celebrity, who goes by the stage name G.E.M., bought two 2,480 sq ft units in Leon Court at Wong Nai Chung Gap Road for a combined HK$85 million (US$10.9 million), according to Land Registry records.
“So far in 2025, despite an overall market downturn, the market witnessed active transactions in luxury properties,” said Lucia Leung, director of research and consultancy for Greater China at Knight Frank. “This highlights a persistent appetite for high-end properties among affluent buyers, particularly as confidence in the market begins to stabilise.”
A property at 6 Stanley Beach Road sold this month for HK$116 million, 45 per cent lower than the peak price of HK$212 million in 2011, according to Victoria Allan, founder and managing director of Habitat Property.
This month, a 2,201 sq ft unit in Cluny Park in the Mid-Levels neighbourhood above Central sold for HK$57 million, 32 per cent lower than when it was last transacted in June 2016 for HK$83.9 million, Leung said. In Tuen Mun, a 3,348 sq ft home in Seaside Castle went for HK$59 million, having lost 31 per cent of its value since it sold for HK$85 million in July 2022.
