HONG Kong's big-name districts are losing their shine as the boundaries between luxury and non-luxury begin to merge, according to a leading real estate expert.
A growing number of estate agents were classifying the property market by development only, rather than by district, as was the tradition, said David Faulkner, senior partner at Brooke Hillier Parker.
By the end of the decade, all estate agents would refer only to developments and not districts, because of transformations in the location of luxury housing estates, he said.
Hong Kong's luxury residential districts have traditionally included the Peak, Mid-Levels and Hong Kong's southside.
But Mr Faulkner said that, by 2000, estate agents might do away with using district-based ''broad-brush statistics'' of the luxury property market in favour of a simple development by development definition.
Brooke Hillier Parker had been analysing luxury on a development rather than a district basis to look at the reality behind the statistical figures for about five years, Mr Faulkner said.