Just Saying | Property porn in Hong Kong: when home prices are so high, they become obscene
Yonden Lhatoo laments the sad state of Hong Kong’s housing market, where tiny, subsidised homes meant for the poorest families are being sold for record prices and human decency has been abandoned in the pursuit of profit
I have written and ranted ad nauseam about the sorry state of housing in Hong Kong and the insanity of endlessly skyrocketing property prices in the world’s most expensive city to secure a roof over your head.
The hopelessness of it is enough to leave anyone jaded, but a recent exchange with a bright, young local reporter who works at this newspaper has arrested my slide into benumbed acceptance.
She told me she was living in a shoebox-style subdivided flat because she simply couldn’t afford anything bigger or better. Her predicament reflects the sad reality of life in this city: the humblest form of accommodation – created by landlords illegally dividing individual flats into multiple cubicles to rent out – is the only option, not just for poverty-stricken families but also for young professionals who have no hope of getting on the property ladder.
Hong Kong has reached a point where property developers and landlords shamelessly pursuing profit under the banner of unfettered commerce in a so-called free market have abandoned the realms of human decency, and naked greed rules the roost.
Home prices are not just outrageous these days, they’ve become obscene. This is property porn.