Hong Kong entrepreneur stumps up US$77.4 million for luxury Peak property, showing market resilience

Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Alex Fang, co-founder of private equity firm eGarden Ventures, has paid about HK$601 million (US$77.4 million) to be the new owner of a luxury home at The Peak developed by Wheelock Properties, according to a person familiar with the situation who declined to be identified because the information is not public.

Fang paid HK$90,000 per square foot for the 6,676 sq ft property at 77B Peak Road, arguably the most exclusive address in the city, in the latest sign that the luxury property market is proving resilient despite a wider economic downturn. The transaction is one of the highest ever achieved for Wheelock.

“The luxury market has not been affected too much by the downturn,” said Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu, managing director at Wheelock. “Over the last two months, we have already sold five houses worth HK$3 billion [in total] … The rich are still doing good business.”

Wong refused to identify the buyers of the properties.

Meanwhile, Dong Tao, vice-chairman, Greater China at Credit Suisse is reported to have bought a two-bedroom flat at Sorrento, an upscale development in West Kowloon for about HK$26 million, according to local media reports.

Unlike the previous wave of luxury property transactions in the city, this time most buyers are “Hong Kong businessmen who are mostly in the tech industry,” said Wong.