**Luxury Hong Kong Property Owned by Shenzhen’s Xiangqi Group Chairman Sold at a Huge Loss**
Shenzhen’s Xiangqi Group Chairman Chen Hongtian’s luxury residence at 15 Gofu Mountain Road, the Peak in Hong Kong was sold for 790 million Hong Kong dollars on August 19, dropping significantly from the purchase price nine years ago, setting a record for the largest single loss in the history of the Hong Kong residential property market. Chen Hongtian, after investing in Hong Kong real estate for 10 years, ended up with a staggering loss of over 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.
In June 2016, during the peak of the Hong Kong property market, Chen Hongtian acquired the property at 15 Gofu Mountain Road from Johnson International for a record-breaking price of 2.1 billion Hong Kong dollars, with a per square foot price reaching a high of 227,400 Hong Kong dollars, setting a new record for per square foot price in the whole of Hong Kong. This top-notch luxury residence boasts a practical area of 18,000 square feet, featuring a six-bedroom, six-bathroom layout, along with a nearly 10,000 square foot private garden and parking space, making it one of the most upscale properties in Hong Kong.
However, the glorious scene faded in no time. In 2023, due to “periodic cash flow issues,” the property was taken over by East Asia Bank and fell into the hands of the bank. Since the first announcement of the sales arrangement in August 2023, the sale of this former price king property has been extremely rocky, experiencing nearly two years of repeated delays and multiple rounds of bidding with no takers until January this year when the asking price was significantly lowered to a range of 700-800 million Hong Kong dollars, eventually selling at 790 million Hong Kong dollars.
In Hong Kong’s real estate market, a property labeled as “bank-owned” means that the property owner cannot repay the bank’s mortgage loan, so the bank or financial institution that provided the loan (known as the “bank owner”) applies to the court to take back the property and then sells it to the public through auction or agent to cover the overdue property debts.
Although the property obtained an occupancy permit in 2019, the renovation work was never completed, with some areas presenting a dilapidated state at the time of sale, never truly being used for residential purposes, becoming a symbol of investment failure.
Chen Hongtian, with a fortune of 33.5 billion Hong Kong dollars, ranked 41st on the 2022 Hurun Global Real Estate Entrepreneur List, has been heavily investing in properties in Hong Kong since 2015, with a total investment of around 6.987 billion Hong Kong dollars, and now faces the grim situation of his entire asset portfolio collapsing.
Apart from Gofu Mountain Road 15, other Hong Kong properties owned by Chen Hongtian have also suffered massive losses. In December 2024, the Hung Hom Xiangqi Centre was sold for 2.65 billion Hong Kong dollars, marking a devaluation of 1.85 billion Hong Kong dollars from the purchase price of 4.5 billion Hong Kong dollars; and the Ao Xuan unit at 53 Stubbs Road, the Peak was sold for 420 million Hong Kong dollars in September 2023, plummeting approximately 38% from the bidding price, with equally astonishing losses.
Senior industry analysts point out that the Hong Kong luxury property market has generally declined by about 30% since its peak in 2021, and bank-owned properties typically require an additional discount of 15%-20%. The drop of over 60% in the case of Gofu Mountain Road at the Peak represents a typical “bank’s urgent sale + special individual property” dual overlapping effect, unprecedented in the market.
Chen Hongtian’s investment strategy heavily relied on bank financing, fully embodying the aggressive investment philosophy of “borrow as much as possible.” According to industry sources, when he purchased the property at Gofu Mountain Road on Hong Kong Island, he used properties in Shenzhen Luohu as collateral and paid an additional 1.68 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash in installments. In 2019, he further took out first and second mortgages from East Asia Bank, with a very high leverage ratio, laying hidden dangers for the future breakdown of the funding chain.
After a decade of real estate investment in Hong Kong, Chen Hongtian ended up with a massive loss of over 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.