Hong Kong luxury home on the peak sold at US$17 million loss

AN ultra luxury apartment in Hong Kong’s Mount Nicholson development – one of the most expensive apartment projects in Asia – was recently sold for a loss of US$16.6 million as the city’s upscale home market struggles to recover from weak demand.

Two buyers purchased the 4,596-square-foot home for HK$390 million (S$65.1 million) in late January, according to a document lodged with the Land Registry. The seller bought the property for HK$520 million in 2018, the data shows.

Hong Kong’s upscale home market has been under pressure amid Covid-19 restrictions and rising interest rates. The number of luxury residential sales in the first 10 months in 2022 fell 60 per cent from the year before, according to the latest report from Centaline Property Agency.

The proportion of mainland Chinese – an important source of buyers – in the luxury market hit a new low in 2022, according to Savills. Prolonged border lockdowns, muted business prospects and changing policies affected wealthy mainland Chinese appetite for trophy assets in Hong Kong, the firm added.

Mount Nicholson made headlines in 2021 when the developers Wharf Holdings and Nan Fung Development sold an apartment at the project for HK$140,800 per square foot, the highest unit price for such property in Asia. BLOOMBERG