Scape house sale at HK$252m bucks sentiment

A Hong Kong buyer has bucked the real estate market's weak sentiment by splashing out for a detached house on the city's south side.

The buyer yesterday paid HK$252 million for a 5,051 square feet house in a luxury development in Chung Hung Kok. It is the biggest residential transaction in the Southern district since the government introduced a 15 per cent stamp duty for corporate buyers and non-permanent residents in late October to cool the property market. The measure has kept mainlanders, who had accounted for about 40 per cent of new luxury homes sales, away.

The price for House No 8 in the Scape development, which is owned by Singaporean fund Hillcrest Capital, represents almost HK$50,000 per square foot. Still, that's about 9.2 per cent lower than the development's first sale in June before the stamp duty was imposed.

At 4,578 sq ft, the development's show suite was sold for HK$250 million, or HK$54,608 per square foot. It came with luxury decoration, and was sold to a corporate buyer.

The Scape project comprises eight three-storey detached houses, with areas ranging from 4,500 sq ft to 8,000 sq ft. According to a market source, the owner is seeking between HK$280 million and HK$290 million for the houses.

Michael So, associate district manager at Midland Realty's Deep Water Bay branch which handled the deal, said House No8 was sold as a bare-shell and had no interior decoration.