Of Properties and School Net 34

Among Kowloon's districts, School Net 34 is considered a prime school district with a good number of famous schools, including Heep Yunn Secondary School's affiliated Primary School, St. Rose of Lima's School and Chan Sui Ki (La Salle) Primary School, which are also firm favourites among parents. However, some consider School Net 34 a ‘Heaven or Hell' school net as students may easily be assigned to more inferior choices or even to schools in Wong Tai Sin. More recently, the Kai Tak development area has also been roped into School Net 34, which only increases the competitiveness of academic places.

A point to note when trying to get admitted into prime schools within School Net 34 is that Heep Yunn's Primary School and St. Rose of Lima's School are both girls' schools, while the others are of a somewhat average level, so this school net is particularly beneficial for girls. Aim for your first choice but if that falls through and you still wish to remain in the school net, you may have to be more conservative with your second option.

Sky Tower

Sky Tower was co-developed by New World and Cheung Kong and opened for residence in 2005 with six 58-storey towers and a total of 2,208 units. Ranging from 452 to 691 square feet, they are either two- or three-bedrooms units. The ground level section houses the Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees hotel, and Sky Tower is situated near the currently underconstruction Sung Wong Toi MTR station as well as the Kowloon City exit of the Kai Tak Tunnel on Route 5.

Local expert Fu Wing Shan from Century 21 recommends looking at Bayview, a relatively new development; its three-bedroom units measuring 595 square feet are currently selling for HK$12 million. Kerry Properties has also developed some standalone residences for the estate which are adjacent to Hoi Sham Park, totalling 175 units.

Fu further says that properties going for HK$6 million which fall within School Net 34 are very rare, as well as difficult to find in big estates. It would make more sense to look into older standalone buildings in To Kwa Wan for the possibility of such a price.

As a new development area within School Net 34, properties in Kai Tak are relatively new. Most units have also been bought for investment purposes, which means there is a larger supply available, and renting is cheaper than buying here. The recently launched Victoria Skye by K&K Property has 266-square-foot studio units for rent starting from HK$12,000.

Further Options

The most luxurious residential area within the school net is undoubtedly Ho Man Tin, where properties easily cost tens of millions and are out of most people's price ranges. There are also units in the Cascades—part of the old Sandwich Class Housing Scheme— that occasionally appear on the market and could be a good choice for getting onto the property ladder.

Another residence to look at could be Kwan Tak Court under the Home Ownership Scheme, which has three blocks supplying a total of 603 units. 288 of these units measure 444 to 451 square feet, and the remaining 315 units come in at 562 to 568 square feet—they are popular across the board among buyers with families. These units have selling prices ranging from HK$3.25 million to HK$5.29 million, and the average price per square foot is approximately HK$8,551. For properties in School Net 34, this price is an absolute steal— but first, you have to win the HOS balloting.