Hong Kong apartment sells for $82.2m, making it Asia’s most expensive

The sale is expected to boost Hong Kong’s luxury real estate market

Sale of an apartment in Hong Kong’s Mount Nicholson development (pictured) has seen it become Asia’s most expensive in terms of per square foot (EPA)

An apartment in one of Hong Kong’s most upscale luxury properties has sold for HK$640m (£61.2m or $82.2m), making it Asia’s most expensive in terms of price per square foot.

Developers Wharf Holdings Limited and Nan Fung Development Limited sold the apartment in the Mount Nicholson development for a price that works out at HK$140,800 (£13,471) per square foot. The apartment is 4,544 square feet (442 square metres) and comes with three parking spaces.

Mount Nicholson is one of the most sought-after ultra-luxury developments in Hong Kong and is located at The Peak, a luxury residential area with panoramic views across the city.

The area has limited space, meaning new properties there are in short supply.

Homeowners in the area include the late tycoon Stanley Ho’s daughters Alice Ho and Sabrina Ho, as well as Tai Hung Fai Enterprises founder Edwin Leong.

The Mount Nicholson apartment has been bought by an unidentified buyer who also bought an adjacent apartment for HK$561m (£53.7m), reported Bloomberg.

With the sale, the companies broke the record set by CK Asset Holdings Limited in February when it sold its 21 Borrett Road apartment at HK$136,000 (£13,019) per square foot.

Experts said that the sale is expected to boost Hong Kong’s buoyant upscale luxury real estate market.

Between June 2020 and June 2021, total transactions in the market more than doubled to reach HK$12.8bn (£1.2bn), said Colliers International.

It added that prices for luxury homes are expected to grow further by 3 per cent in the second half of this year, with high demand among the wealthy both in Hong Kong as well as in mainland China.

The sale came after news that Hong Kong’s border with mainland China will open next month, reported South China Morning Post, even as the city continues to impose strict quarantine rules on most arrivals from outside China.

Meanwhile Hong Kong’s property market at large remains in crisis, with the chronic issue of space shortages. The city’s leading developer Sun Hung Kai Properties recently started building apartments the size of two king beds.

The property crisis has often been blamed by the Chinese government on big conglomerates for their “monopolistic behaviours”.