Mortgagee sales deepen losses at newer Hong Kong homes
AM730 · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago5 MIN
Summary
A two-bedroom mortgagee flat at Upper RiverBank in So Kwun Wat, Tuen Mun, has been sold for HK$4.5 million, with the unit’s value down about 33.7% from its 2019 purchase price. Separately, a one-bedroom mortgagee unit at The Grand Marine in Tsing Yi has been listed for auction at HK$3.7 million, also well below the owner’s original acquisition cost.
Key Points
- Midland-like agency Chun Shing Property senior sales manager Tang Kam-hung (鄧錦雄) said Upper RiverBank Block 3B high-floor Flat E, with 514 square feet of saleable area, sold recently for HK$4.5 million
- The So Kwun Wat unit has a two-bedroom layout and mountain view, and the buyer is a local owner who purchased it for rental investment
- Based on an estimated market rent of about HK$15,000 a month, the new owner could receive a rental yield of around 4%
- The original owner bought the Upper RiverBank flat for HK$6.79 million in 2019, meaning a paper loss of HK$2.29 million, or about 33.7%
- In another mortgagee case, The Grand Marine Tower 1A low-floor Flat D in Tsing Yi, with 305 square feet of saleable area, has been put up for auction at HK$3.7 million on September 29
- The Tsing Yi flat was bought in the fourth quarter of 2019 for more than HK$5.08 million, so the auction price is over HK$1.38 million lower, implying a decline of more than 27%
- A bank valuation for the Tsing Yi unit was about HK$4.55 million, making the latest auction guide price roughly HK$850,000, or about 18%, below that estimate
- Upper RiverBank, at 99 So Kwun Wat Road, was completed in 2020 and comprises 10 residential blocks and 30 houses, providing 1,154 units
Why It Matters
These two cases show that some relatively new homes are still being disposed of by mortgagees at prices materially below both original purchase costs and, in one case, bank valuation. For Hong Kong buyers and landlords, that creates cheaper entry points but also underlines the downside risk for owners who bought near the 2019 peak.