First the good news: one can now buy an apartment in Hong Kong for the low, low price of under HK$2 million, or HK$1.94 million to be precise which amounts to a measly USD $250,000.
Hong Kong's leading property developer and conglomerate, Cheung Kong Holdings (whose position in the Hong Kong financial pyramid is best described by its stock ticker: 0001) is selling a studio at Mont Vert in Tai Powhich is also the cheapest new home available for sale in Hong Kong, at HK$1.94 million, according to the price list Cheung Kong released on Thursday for the first batch of units at the development.
"New flats selling for less than HK$2 million are almost impossible to find in Hong Kong," said Louis Chan Wing-kit, managing director of Centaline Property Agency's residential department.
Now the bad news: the studio has an area of a whopping 194 square feet, which works out to HK$10,031 per sq ft or about USD$1,300 per square foot. And just in case this may seem like a cavernous McMansion to some, Cheung Kong is also selling an even smaller pad, one sized a tiny 177 sq ft. This particular unit did not have a sale price listed in the first batch.
The unit is about double the size of a prison cell.
It looks as follows:
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[5]
But ignore the fact that the apartment is just double the size of a prison cell, according to SCMP [6]: Justin Chiu Kwok-hung, an executive director at Cheung Kong, said he was told by property agents that prices at the project were about 30 per cent below transaction prices for other new flats in the area.
"The stunning low price is because of low land cost," he said. "The site was converted from farmland for residential use. We also secured lower construction cost as the contract was awarded several years ago."
For those who demand more "princely" estates, there are options: the first batch of the 1,071-unit project going on sale includes two-bedroom or three-bedroom flats, as well as 43 studio flats. Sellable area for the flats ranges from 194 to 945 square feet. Flats cost between HK$1.65 million and HK$8.70 million with maximum discounts of 15 percent.
Of the 260 units on offer, 43 are studio flats, 20 are two-bedroom units and 197 are three-bedroom units. They are priced at HK$8,961 to HK$11,162 per square foot, while the going rates for second-hand flats in the area are HK$8,310 to HK$10,334.
Don't expect anything new however, most of those flats are more than 20 years old.
So act now to buy your own prison cell at the low, low price of a quarter million dollars. In fact, you have to buy it "sight unseen [7]."
Meanwhile, the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority reminded potential buyers to look at the flat before signing the provisional purchase deal.
It came after the authority noticed that Cheung Kong was requiring potential buyers to sign a no-visit agreement, baring them from seeing the flat they want to buy before signing the provisional contract.
Best of all, all of this is coming to a housing bubble near you.
