ASIAN buyers are showing great interest in central San Francisco office buildings, and have recently bought several major blocks at 10 per cent of Hong Kong prices.
Tom Stubbs, of Stubbs Collendale, a partnership specialising in leasing and sales in San Francisco, said buyers were paying US$120 per square foot for prime central locations, which would cost them $1,200 per sq ft in Hong Kong.
Mr Stubbs said he worked closely with agents Vigers in Hong Kong - Vigers located the buyers, he found suitable buildings - and without this network of contacts at both ends, deals would not happen.
Asians, and particularly Hong Kong Chinese, have strong links with San Francisco.
''San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest outside of Asia - they feel comfortable there. It is beside the sea and reminds them of home,'' Mr Stubbs said.
Prices peaked in San Francisco in 1990, when office buildings reached $400 per sq ft.