NewWealthy mainland Chinese back into Hong Kong super-luxury home market

Mainland Chinese buyers have gradually come back to Hong Kong’s top-end luxury home market as the super-rich look to diversify their assets given the country’s slowing economy, according to property consultants.

They are looking for niche areas in prestigious locations in the city as these high-end products provide growth potential due to their limited supply, they said.

During the first 10 months of 2015, buyers of four out of the top 10 luxury deals were from the mainland, according to Knight Frank.

“The financial market turbulence in the third quarter and the devaluation of Chinese currency have prompted more affluent mainlanders to look for asset diversification. Hong Kong’s top-end luxury market is their option,” said Thomas Lam, head of valuation and consultancy at Knight Frank.

As an example, the house at 22 Barker Road was sold to Alibaba’s Jack Ma Yun, for HK$1.5 billion or HK$151,000 per square foot in terms of saleable area in the third quarter, breaking the average price record in Hong Kong.

Lam said mainlanders hesitated to enter the market in the past two years because of the introduction of buyers’ stamp duty in 2012, which requires non-locals and companies owned by locals or foreigners to pay an extra 15 per cent.