Border reopening sends Hongkongers rushing back to Greater Bay Area property market in search of cheaper homes

Name: High hopes for China’s Greater Bay Area, but integrating 11 cities will pose challenges
Uploaded: 2023-03-13T01:30:09.000Z
Duration: 6 min 19 s
Description: High hopes for China’s Greater Bay Area, but integrating 11 cities will pose challenges

A wave of Hong Kong buyers is returning to the mainland market, lured by prices that are up to 10 times lower than at home

They are mostly looking for properties to live in, rather than as an investment, say buyers and industry observers

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The average price of a 100 square-metre residential property in Zhongshan is 1.2 million yuan, far less than in Hong Kong. Photo: Shutterstock

Yulu Ao

Published: 9:30am, 13 Mar 2023Updated: 11:27am, 13 Mar 2023

As a cheer rang out and confetti rained down, Lau, an 80-year-old retiree from Hong Kong smashed a golden egg – seen as a symbol of good luck – to celebrate the purchase of a new home in Zhongshan, a city in China’s southern Guangdong province about an hour’s drive from her home city.

She was one of seven participants in a recent property tour organised by agents from Zhongshan and Hong Kong that aimed to introduce prospective Hong Kong buyers to homes in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

As property projects in the bay area resume marketing in the city after the reopening of the border, a wave of Hong Kong buyers is returning to the mainland market, lured by prices that are up to 10 times lower than at home.

Lau’s new 40-square-metre flat, developed by Poly Real Estate, was priced at 250,000 yuan (US$35,883). It was even less expensive than the average home in the city because it came with a 40-year ownership entitlement, compared with the usual 70 years.

“It’s far cheaper than I expected, and very close to Hong Kong,” said Lau, who did not wish to give her first name. “I want to spend the rest of my life here with several of my family members who also live in Zhongshan.”

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High hopes for China’s Greater Bay Area, but integrating 11 cities will pose challenges

The average price for a 100 square-metre residential property in Zhongshan is 1.2 million yuan, far less than in Hong Kong. Even in the relatively affordable New Territories, it would cost HK$13.5 million (US$1.7 million) to buy an equivalent-sized unit, according to data from Midland Realty.