Why Hong Kong investors are snapping up flats in Southeast Asia
Hong Kong investors looking for a stable rental income instead of parking their money in a bank are setting their sights on Southeast Asian property, according to industry experts.
Demand for investment property in the region – where prices are a fraction of those in Hong Kong – has stayed firm, with total transactions of completed properties up 19 per cent year on year in the first half of 2017 to around US$61 billion, according to Colliers International.
One such investor is Gordon Cheung, who bought a flat in Life Asoke Rama 9, a project in Bangkok jointly developed by AP (Thailand) and Japan’s Mitsubishi Estate Group.
“Bangkok’s property prices are just about a quarter of Hong Kong’s. The location is also great, at the heart of Bangkok’s central business district near the Chinese embassy,” Cheung said.
Foreign buyers of Thai properties mostly want a stable rental income, unlike those who buy properties in Western countries for their children’s education
More than 95 per cent of the project’s 154 units allocated to the Hong Kong market sold out within two days of going on the market. The average price for Life Asoke units on offer was 12,542 Thai baht (HK$2,952) per square foot, compared with the average price of HK$11,762 per sq ft in Hong Kong.