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most luxurious real estate on sale in town
Mixed sentiments towards Hong Kong’s realty market notwithstanding, its properties remain the most expensive in Asia. GARY JONES takes a peek at the city’s most luxurious real estate on sale
MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS, they say. It’s nonsense, of course. When purchasing property in space-starved Hong Kong, it takes hard cash to secure a home with a magnificent view And while postcard-perfect panoramas, according to experts, appeal to our sense of having “made it”, they also tug at our most primitive needs and desires.
Think of the times you’ve thrown open the blinds of a high-floor hotel room to discover an entire glittering metropolis unfurling beneath you, or nothing but the pristine Pacific extending to the horizon. Or Central Park; or the Sydney Opera House. Or herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically … You get the picture: suddenly you’re on top of the world.
Speaking in Psychology Today magazine, American environmental psychologist Dr Sally D says a lofty vantage point accentuates this feeling. “Being on the 100th floor, with a view of the nearby world, gives us prospect and refuge — that means we have a view out over a nearby area from a secure location,” she says, adding that such a sense of security was desirable to our Paleolithic caveman ancestors, and remains coded into our DNA
“When we had prospect and refuge, we could see hungry carnivores who might want to eat us approaching, for example, and could act accordingly."
In modern times, prestige, exclusivity and wealth-signalling make higher perches desirable. “We link things that are higher with more power and importance, Augustin explains Think about EO offices on the top floor of buildings, for example Having a feeling of power is generally pleasant.”
And privacy and control over our environment are soughtafter, and go hand in hand with to-die-for vistas. “Not many people can see into our windows when we re on the th floor, and there's probably no one nearby making annoying noises, either, Augustin says
That being the case, it should come as no surprise that many
of Hong Kong’s most prestigious luxury residences come with exceptional views as standard, and the SAR's hilly topography means it’s not always necessary to plump for a tower-block penthouse.
But is it the right time to buy luxury property in Hong Kong? There appear to be mixed signals.
On June 3, World Property Journal reported that global real-estate firm LL s most recent Residential Market Monitor Report concluded that ong Kong s luxury market faced a double whammy from the weakening leasing and buying demand”.
“Capital values of luxury residential properties dropped by 8.6 percent from the peak in the second quarter of 2019,” the digital real-estate publication proclaimed Likewise, luxury rentals have fallen by 5.8 percent, the sharpest fall recorded within the same period since 2017.”
Social tensions and the Covid-19 outbreak had also taken their toll on the city's economic outlook, the Journal said, weakening market sentiment.
Less than two weeks later, the South China Morning Post newspaper’s business pages boldly announced that “Hong Kong’s luxury property market is buzzing”, describing how a corporate buyer had just shelled out HK$370 million for a
, -square-foot Kowloon Tong villa Another overseas company had paid HK$350 million for lot in the same development According to the Post, Thomas Lam, executive director at property giant Knight Frank, said the deal “shows the richest still have confidence in ultra-luxury homes in
Hong Kong”.
And then, just eight days after that report, the Post flipped the other way, asking in a headline, “Is city’s luxury property set for a historic rout?”
Strangely, to back up this newfound position, the Post cited how a top-tier duplex unit in Mid-Levels owned by Taiwanese actress Wu Pei-chi had recently leased for half the market rate. Later in the same schizophrenic article, the Post quoted the managing director of a local property company as saying: “This is obviously not a market-based rental as it was leased to a friend on mate s rates , so it s not reflective of the market
In none-the-wiser summary, one must conclude these are confusing and volatile times for the Hong Kong property market, with the global pandemic, China’s economic malaise or recovery, and the threat of more local unrest all having profound impact.
Looking to the long-term, however, it might profit the luxury buyer to consider three other factors that historically have had substantial and positive influence on local property's desirability and value: “Elevation, elevation and elevation.”