HK's property insiders in buying mode

A NOVEL coronavirus outbreak following months of anti-government protests might seem like a toxic cocktail for the world's least affordable property market. Yet, Hong Kong's real estate insiders are in buy mode.

The plan by the family of Peter Woo to take Wheelock & Co private suggests that those with the most privileged vantage point see a limit to any virus-induced decline in property prices, and consider there is value to be extracted by removing assets from the public markets. It may not be the last such manoeuvre.

That might seem surprising. A widely-followed index of residential prices compiled by Centaline Property Agency has dropped only 6.5 per cent from its record high in June last year.