Bits and pieces

There seem to be more French people moving to Park Island. Has anyone else noticed that?

Also more Korean air hostesses are moving here, it seems. If you want to meet some of them, they can be often be seen poolside at Chic Chic on weekends. So, if you want to practice your Korean, or are looking for a Korean friend, girlfriend, or wife, that might be a good place to meet them!

Has the gwailo who has joined the old folks doing tai chi in the piazza started a trend? Apparently a second gwailo was spotted joining them last week.  Maybe I should give it a try?

The luxury villas are apparently having their current kitchens ripped out and a newer modern kitchen installed. Word is that Sun Hung Kai are going to position these as even more upmarket than they had initially planned, so are now putting in top of the line European kitchens.

Around 20 workmen and engineering-looking types were recently seen thoroughly inspecting the structure right next to the new villas. What were they up to I wonder? There is still speculation there will be a car park put here. Anyone know?

Prices on Park Island just seem to keep going up and up. I have been looking at penthouses for sale, and the asking prices on the four places I have viewed over the last two weeks all seem to be between 20 to 25 million for 1500 sq ft and a rooftop or balcony. Yet bank valuations for the same places are only around 16 mil. So how does that work? Either you are going to get a cash rich person who will pay over and above the bank val, or the seller will need to come down in price. My guess is that the next sale for such a place will be in the 17-18mil range, and that after that the bank vals on the penthouses will move up. Let's see. Given that interest rates are so low, any owner really has no need or inventive to sell unless they get a pretty good price.

Below is a graph showing Park Island property prices for so far this month:

Graph showing Park Island property prices

As you can see, the recent stock market volatility seems to have led to quite a jump in prices. Probably because some people pulling are pulling money out of stocks and into property. And perhaps also because the outlook for low interest rates in Hong Kong keeps being extended further and further.

The pet store near the strip of shops along the side of the Ma Wan village is being replaced by...no, not another real estate agency, thank god. Rather a language school is being set up there, teaching a range of languages including Mandarin. Good luck to them.

I checked out rental prices for apartments in the Ma Wan village today. Not as cheap as you might think. The last 4 rentals went for 14K per square foot, 16.5K per square foot, 17K per square foot, and 18K per square foot. That is pretty close to the rentals on the Park Island estate which are around 18-20K (and remember that you get access to all the facilities for that, whereas in the Ma Wan village you don't have access to the Park Island facilities.