Signs of confidence: affluent Hong Kong investors snap up luxury flats as market improves

Affluent Hong Kong investors – from the former CEO of the Hong Kong stock exchange to the chairman of Great Eagle Holdings – have been snapping up residential properties, despite doubts by many prospective homebuyers that prices of flats across the city have hit bottom.

Francis Yuen Tin-fan and his wife Rose Lee Wai-mun spent HK$92 million (US$11.8 million) on two luxury flats at The Knightsbridge in Kai Tak over a span of two months. Their latest transaction on Tuesday was for a 1,259 sq ft unit that cost HK$45.5 million, according to the Land Registry. In early July, the couple bought a 1,298 sq ft four-bedroom unit in the same project for HK$46.5 million.

The Knightsbridge, located at 22 Shing Fung Road on the former airport runway, is a 566-unit development by a consortium that includes China Overseas Land and Henderson Land.

Yuen, a 73-year-old native of Shanghai, and his wife have been active in the city’s high-end residential property market. He was CEO of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong – predecessor to bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing – from 1988 to 1991.

Lo Ka-shui, chairman and managing director of property developer Great Eagle, and his family have also been acquiring new flats across Hong Kong Island and the New Territories in recent months.