Opulent Hong Kong home sold for nearly 150 mn dollars

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Hong Kong lived up to its reputation as an expensive place to live when a four-bedroom house in an exclusive area was reported sold for almost 150 million US dollars.

The palatial house in the Peak district went for 1.16 billion HK dollars (148.7 million US dollars), which the main developer said is the most paid for a home in one of its projects this year.

The price per square foot was 126,813 HK dollars, a spokesperson for Wheelock Properties said on Wednesday.

The sale of the more than 9,000 square foot detached house, which includes a swimming pool, lavish garden and basement car park, underscores the gaping contrasts in the city where the average living space is just 150 square feet (14 square meters) per person.

Wheelock and Company, one of Hong Kong’s biggest developers, owns the Mount Nicholson project via its subsidiaries Wheelock Properties and Wharf Holdings, together with Nan Fung Development.

Home prices in Hong Kong have jumped close to 400 percent since 2003, while the median monthly household income has risen just 61 percent, pushing home ownership out of reach for many. /VCG Photo

A recent UBS report said Hong Kong was the world’s most expensive city for apartments, with a skilled service worker needing to work 20 years – the longest period of time in a list of 20 cities in the world – before being able to afford a 650 square feet (60 square meters) flat near the city center.

Hong Kong authorities have tried to implement a raft of measures to cool the city’s property prices but Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said the government has no “magic wands”.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s wealthiest cities with fiscal reserves of more than 936 billion HK dollars but less than one-tenth of its land area is zoned for housing.

Inequalities have been exacerbated with many middle-class families unable to afford property.

Home prices in Hong Kong have jumped close to 400 percent since 2003, while the median monthly household income has risen just 61 percent, pushing home ownership out of reach for many.

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Source(s): Reuters