Luxury homes lead way

Kevin Xu

More transactions have been recorded in the luxury segment in the wake of the recent sale of a residential site on the Peak despite the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections and Sino-US tensions continuing to weigh on the market.

The son-in-law of former Wheelock chairman Peter Woo Kwong-ching, John Paul McLellan, sold a 1,424-square-foot unit at Epworth Lodge at 51 Barker Road on The Peak for HK$78 million or HK$54,772 per sq ft, local media reported.

McLellan bought the unit in 2004 for HK$13.8 million, according to the Land Registry, meaning he will earn a capital gain of HK$64.2 billion.

In Happy Valley, a 1,461-sq-ft flat at The Leighton Hill changed hands for HK$69 million, or HK$47,228 per sq ft, after HK$1 million was cut from the initial asking price. The vendor bought the unit for HK$50 million in 2011.

In West Kowloon, a 1,955-sq-ft flat at The Arch sold for HK$150 million, after HK$10 million was cut from the original asking price. The seller, who purchased the unit for HK$55.8 million 13 years ago, will earn a capital gain of HK$94.2 million.

This came after Wharf won the tender for a residential site at Mansfield Road on The Peak for HK$12 billion, or HK$46,272 per buildable square foot, with the per sq ft price hitting a new high for a residential site in Hong Kong and beating market expectations.

Surveyors had valued the residential site at between HK$7.7 billion to HK$11.1 billion, or HK$30,000 to HK$43,000 per buildable sq ft.

The site covers a total area of 134,884 sq ft, with a maximum gross floor area of 259,337 sq ft.

The government had offered to sell the plot, which occupies 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 11 Mansfield Road in 2018, but the tender was canceled after bidders failed to meet its reserve price.

This original site was divided into two parcels for disposal in the fiscal year that ends in March.