Soundwill Holdings sell 29 shopping units at The Sharp, Causeway Bay

Car parking spaces are passe. Savvy property investors are moving up, so to speak.

After the buying frenzy of parking spaces that followed the introduction of new buyer's stamp duties in October, upper-floor retail spaces are now all the rage.

The Sharp in Causeway Bay, owned by Soundwill Holdings, is a prime example. The developer managed to sell 29 shopping units in the very first day of sale on Thursday, with the price averaging HK$33,576 per square foot. The unit that fetched the most is on the top floor with a roof. It sold for HK$80.47 million, or HK$48,100 per square foot.

The proposed "Ginza-style" commercial building, to be completed by 2015, is on Sharp Street, just off Russell Street, which is the most expensive retail strip in the world. Each floor has a gross floor area between 1,567 sq ft and 1,586 sq ft.

"Most buyers are Hong Kong investors moving away from residential property," said a property agent who declined to be named.

Ample liquidity and low interest rates have encouraged investors to shift to property but because of greater policy risks in residential property investment, they are now focusing on the commercial sector, said Midland Realty director Tony Lo, head of the retail shops division.

Subdivided units of a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui echoed that sentiment. In the past two days, investor Wan Pak-kuen has sold 200 small retail units at The Capital, formerly known as DNA Galleria, part of the Park Hotel on Chatham Road.