Luxury market dismisses interest rate clouds seen on mass-market horizon
Sun Hung Kai Properties yesterday said it sold a 5,353 square foot penthouse at its luxury apartment complex the Arch for a record $168 million, or $31,300 per square foot.
The transaction represents the highest per-unit price recorded, trumping the $28,000 per square foot paid last year for a flat in Kerry Properties' Branksome Crest in the Mid-Levels.
Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency executive director Victor Lui Ting said demand for luxury flats in the 1,054-unit project, built on reclaimed land in West Kowloon, was unprecedented.
'People are offering up to $32,000 per square foot for penthouses. We now hope to achieve as much as $38,000 per square foot,' said Mr Lui, who expects to sell about 300 units in the project this week for $5 billion.
Real Estate Developers Association chairman Stanley Ho Hung-sun said yesterday that rising interest rates would have little impact on the property market, which remained on a clear upward trend.
Agents confirmed luxury property sales showed no signs of cooling off despite increasing interest rates and concerns over the health of the mass housing market.