Hong Kong luxury homes: mainland Chinese buyers drive US$3 billion buying spree

Hong Kong’s super luxury property market has seen 35 transactions worth about HK$23 billion (US$2.93 billion) in the past 19 months, with ownership shifting from local property-industry tycoons to mainland buyers who have made their fortunes in hot industries, according to Savills.

Wealthy buyers from mainland China accounted for 80 per cent of the deals worth HK$300 million or more – 24 in 2024 and nine in the first seven months of this year, said Thomas See, the property consultancy’s director and head of residential sales.

“They came from emerging industries in mainland China,” such as AI, fintech and gaming, or industries that grew in profitability during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, like healthcare and logistics, he said.

Twenty-four of the super-prime properties were located on Hong Kong Island, from The Peak to Jardine’s Lookout and the Southside, while 11 were in Kowloon’s Kai Tak and Kowloon Tong areas.

In April, the wife of the co-founder of Chinese selfie app Meitu bought a HK$465.8 million home in the upscale Jardine’s Lookout neighbourhood. Wang Baoshan, who closed the deal for the 5,466 sq ft detached house at 8 Perkins Road, is the spouse of Meitu co-founder Mike Cai Wensheng, according to the company’s annual report.

The price was 22 per cent below the asking price of HK$600 million, according to an agent who mainly deals in luxury homes. The Meitu executive recently had a net worth of about US$1.1 billion, according to Forbes.