Hong Kong property: CIFI chairman Lin Zhong seeks US$212.7 million for 5 luxury homes in Stanley
- CIFI Holdings’ chairman Lin Zhong and his brothers are asking HK$1.66 billion (US$212.7 million) for the five houses, 7.8 per cent less than the purchase price
- The sizes of the 3-storey detached houses range from 4,374 to 6,615 sq ft, and each comes with a garden and outdoor swimming pool
The five detached houses, located at No 1 Horizon Drive and 44, 46, 48 and 50 Chung Hom Kok Road in the upmarket residential area of Stanley, have an asking price of HK$1.66 billion (US$212.7 million), 7.8 per cent less the acquisition price three years ago.
The sellers recently cut the asking price in line with the city’s slowing property market to HK$1.66 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. The revised asking price is HK$140 million less than the HK$1.8 billion the Lin family paid CIFI in 2020 to acquire these properties in a related transaction. They were originally listed for HK$1.98 billion.
CIFI Holdings declined to comment as it does not own the assets.
The sale comes amid a slowdown in Hong Kong’s property market, with high interest rates and a sluggish economy in China weighing on sentiment. Home prices weakened in June for the second consecutive month, with the city’s widely watched lived-in property index falling 0.54 per cent month on month after weakening 0.93 per cent in May. Homeowners who want to sell quickly may have to reduce prices further as the outlook is unlikely to improve in the next few quarters, according to analysts.
CIFI bought the houses from Shun Tak Holdings in 2016 for HK$1.6 billion. In 2020, the Chinese developer sold the houses to Elite Force Development, a company controlled by Lin and his brothers Lin Wei and Lin Feng, for HK$1.8 billion.
Hong Kong homeowners race to sell before property values fall further
Ranging from 4,374 to 6,615 sq ft, each three-storey unit comes with its own garden and outdoor swimming pool.
CIFI initially wanted to sell the town houses separately when the luxury property market was buoyed by an influx of affluent mainlanders, according to Godfrey Cheng, deputy senior director at Savills Hong Kong.
“There’s no rental income generated from the properties, which explains why the owner was willing to reduce the price,” said Cheng.
It will not be surprising if the asking price is reduced further, he added.
This was followed by a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange in which it warned that it expected to post a loss of between 13 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) and 14 billion yuan for 2022, citing a slowdown in property sales and increased impairment provision for property projects in mainland China.
The company’s liabilities stood at 258.6 billion yuan at the end of 2022, up from 223.7 billion the previous year.
CIFI’s stock has been suspended since March 31, after it expressed its inability to publish results for the year ended December 2022.
