Recently, the highly sought-after luxury residence “Shenwan 9” in Hong Kong sold a sea-view apartment for 73.8 million Hong Kong dollars. According to Hong Kong media reports, the original owner of the luxury residence was Jia Jin Investment Limited, with actress Carina Lau being one of the company’s directors.
Carina Lau purchased the property in 2011 for 52.72 million Hong Kong dollars. The practical area of the apartment is 1,949 square feet, comprising four bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and a view of the sea. The initial asking price for the residence was 90 million dollars. Despite the actual selling price being significantly lower than the listing price, it still exceeded the online valuation by 6%, resulting in a profit of 21.07 million dollars. In addition, a parking space was also sold in 2024, with a 40% increase in book value.
Known for her enthusiasm in real estate investment, Carina Lau reportedly owns at least 10 luxury residences in Hong Kong, collectively valued at hundreds of millions. She has also acquired properties in Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou. In a previous interview, when asked if her wealth exceeded 800 million, she confidently declared that her wealth surpasses that amount.
However, Carina Lau is not the only celebrity or affluent individual selling properties in Hong Kong recently. Renowned actor Wong Cho-lam, who won the Hong Kong Film Awards this year, sold a unit in the classic luxury estate “Cloudscape Mansion” in North Point Mid-Levels for 28.8 million dollars. Holding the property for 11 years, he gained a profit of 5.16 million, reflecting an 18% increase in value.
Mainland Chinese director Feng Xiaogang and his wife, Xu Fan, sold a large unit in the wealthy estate “The Summit” in Mid-Levels Central last year for 118 million Hong Kong dollars. The practical area of the unit was 1,933 square feet, and the couple made a profit of 60 million dollars after purchasing it for around 58 million in 2010.
One of the most attention-grabbing individuals in property sales is Li Ka-shing. Last August, Li’s Cheung Kong Property Holdings released the “Mount Ocean II” project with units starting at 2.9 million Hong Kong dollars, 30% cheaper than surrounding second-hand properties, marking a new low in nine years for new developments in Kowloon’s new district.
Prior to Li Ka-shing’s price reduction strategy, reports emerged about companies like Henderson Land Development and Chinachem Group offering discounts on property sales.
According to Voice of America, 2023 was one of the worst years for Hong Kong’s real estate market in decades due to factors such as China’s economic slowdown and persistently high interest rates. The Hang Seng Property Index plummeted by 30% last year, marking a 60% decrease from its historical peak in April 2019.
Global investment banks like UBS Group and Citigroup believe that Hong Kong’s property prices will continue to fall this year, potentially by 10%. From 2021 to last year, property prices in Hong Kong decreased by 20% from their record high.
As a typical example of a complementary couple in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, Tony Leung Chiu-wai has been actively filming movies, while Carina Lau has been aggressively investing in real estate. When asked about her investment strategy in a recent event, Lau expressed that she only understands buying houses and was fortunate to have invested during the prosperous real estate market in Hong Kong over a decade ago. Despite acknowledging that markets eventually decline, she did not foresee the continuous downturn in Hong Kong’s property market in recent years. Citibank (Hong Kong)’s Strategic Investment Department predicts that, even under optimistic estimates, Hong Kong’s property prices will hit bottom by 2025, depending on interest rate trends and the macroenvironment in mainland China.