Hong Kong retail property fund Bridgeway sells Jordan shop at 30% discount

A veteran Hong Kong property investor has sold a shop in Jordan at a loss of more than 30 per cent as the market remains depressed amid falling retail sales and high interest rates.

Edwin Lee, the founder of Bridgeway Prime Shop Fund Management, the first Securities and Futures Commission-licensed fund manager focused exclusively on shops and retail property, said his fund on Monday sold a ground-level shop at 126-128 Woosung Street for HK$18.7 million (US$2.4 million) after acquiring it for HK$27.5 million three years ago.

A gauge of private retail properties compiled by the Rating and Valuation Department has slumped nearly 30 per cent since Lee acquired the asset in July 2022. The index stood at 380 in December compared with a peak of 601 in November 2018 when the city’s property market was booming.

“To maintain the fund’s liquidity, we will continue to buy and sell shops with good potential,” he said. “Just like developers, we can’t hoard our stocks and wait while the market continues to drop.”

Lee, who forayed into property investments in 2009, said it was his fund’s first loss since it was set up in 2016. He said the sale was not due to any liquidity problems and the fund was not under any financial pressure.

Lee said Bridgeway would continue to offload retail units as sentiment in the property market continues to improve, citing rising transactions driven by a stock market rally.