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Showing posts from 2013

A nice lady looking for a flatmate on Ma Wan

My name is Mimi and I found your blog page and learned many great things about Park Island in Ma Wan. I would love to move in this place as my office in causeway bay but I need flatmate to share the place. I have searched many website but so far could not find any particular flatmate who want to stay in ma wan. It is such a shame that many people don't really know how great the lifestyle they have in Ma Wan and always look for the flats in Hong Kong Island even there is 24hrs easy access from park island to central. As I found that you have  over 20 years of living experience in Hong Kong and resident in Park Island, I am begging for your support if possible. If you know any information about where I can find a flatmate to live in Ma Wan, pls kindly reply me at  goaotearoa@gmail.com Thank you for taking your time to reading this. Best Regards Mimi

A newly renovated Park Island apartment in Block 7

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These photos show the space and size you can get in some of the Park Island apartments. This apartment is 1532 square feet, with a rooftop of around 600 square feet. Combined with amazing views, and high quality yet minimalist renovations, you can create an extremely comfortable home ideal for people who desire both space, peace, views, and easy access to a host of facilities on the island. The views of the bridge are also stunning, especially in the evenings. The bank valuation for these type of apartments is between 18-20 million, depending on which block they are in, although agents will tell you that you well need to pay over 20 million to get one as all sellers are asking beyond bank valuation. Further, publicity and interest from buyers and possible tenants of the AnaCapri apartments on Ma Wan is creating new interest and awareness in apartments such as a the one featured here, as such people inevitably view and consider these once they have come to Park Island to view

Park Island shows huge increases and buyers return to the market.

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Below is the latest data out for Park Island property prices. Prices on Park Island hit an all time high. This confirms my observations and what agents have been reporting. You can see a pretty big spike reflected in the graph here. What will happen next is most likely that banks will revalue their lending valuations for Park Island upwards, leading to further increases. So for those who have been holding off to buy, now might be the time to go for it and lock in at low interest rates if possible.

Park Island Price Graph

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Below is a graph showing prices and transaction volumes over the last year which a reader sent me yesterday. I am not sure what the Chinese characters say, but basically the horizontal axis is volume per month, and the vertical axis is the price per square foot. Transaction volumes still look pretty low (lets see how many they have by end of the month), but what is clear is that those who are buying are paying increasingly higher prices. This makes me wonder whether the Government's "cooling measures" have actually been both unfair and counterproductive, as they make sellers less willing to sell, yet genuine buyers are needing to fork out more. What do you think?

One bedroom apartment wanted on Park Island

Posting a request received as follows: Would you know by chance if there is any renovated studio or 1 bedroom apart available for rent please? I am desperately looking for one but don't want to rent a 2 bedrooms as i will just be alone living in the apartment… :( NARY 

Park Island Property on the rise again

Wow, latest data out from Centerline. Of all all the estates in Hong Kong, Park Island increased more this week than any other, rising 10.23%, averaging 9258 per square foot. I am not sure how many transactions this is based on but it is a remarkable increase, and will surely be reflected in bank valuations next week. The index also showed Hong Kong properties rising 2% overall this week.

Update on a possible MTR station at Park Island

If you support the development of an MTR station for Park Island, please send your views and support to: Ben LO Senior Engineer/Technical Service 1 Railway Development Office Highways Department sets1.rdo@hyd.gov.hk You can of course also send and promote your view to as many other sources as you wish - it all helps. For example, ceo@ceo.gov.hk . As readers of the Park Island blogger may know, the Government is reviewing the long-term railway strategy and carrying out Stage 2 Public Engagement exercise on seven local enhancment schemes. Upon completion of the Public Engagement exercise, the consultant will optimise the planning for major regional railway corridors and local enhancement schemes based on the views collected at both stages of the exercise. The entire study is expected to be completed in 2013. The Government will consider the consultant’s final recommendations and explore the way forward for different railway projects having regard to transport dem

Anacapri Villas are now available for rent

Asking prices for Anacapri are apparently from 50K and upwards. A number of agents have shown the apartments to prospective tenants, only to have some decide to move to a Park Island tower apartment, which was not the initial intention of the prospective tenants when they came for a viewing. If you are an Anacapri tenant, or owner, please feel free to post here and tell us what its like!

Our future Park Island MTR Station

The Government is seeking views on future MTR stations for Hong Kong here:  Our Future MTR Lines If you support an MTR station for Ma Wan, Park Island, please send an email expressing your views here: enquiry@ourfuturerailway.hk  Every email, comment, phone call etc from a Hong Kong resident supporting this will help. It takes just five minutes, so please do take the time to express your support for this, and please forward this to others and encourage them to respond. An MTR station might also be a compromise between those who want private car access to Park Island and those who prefer a focus on enhancement of public transport options.

Inquiry about Park Island by an overseas architecture student

Readers, I have received this email below.: Hello, I am an architecture student in London. We visited Hong Kong in November as part of a field trip and it was an unforgettable experience. I have a few questions about Ma Wan island if anyone is willing to help me please. I have noticed the Care village on the map. What is the village exactly about? I am working on a design proposal for a clinic in Ma Wan village. If you have any interesting information about the village to share please do so.. What is the atmosphere/ambiance of the village? What are the inhabitants like? If any of you wish to get in contact and/or assist this person, please feel free to post your details on this comments section, or email me and I will pass on your details to him,

Park Island Flat with Rooftop for Rent

Posting this advert in case anyone wants to rent a nice apartment on Ma Wan I have a flat with rooftop for rent. 1532sft and it is 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms plus a maid quarter.   Original renovation.   Would like to rent for close to $50000. Available in 2 weeks. If you could let me know if anyone is interested?   Best Regards, Lily c2006@hotmail.com

Park Island Property Prices rose again last month

Park Island Property Prices rose 8.5% over the last month. I won't go over the many reasons for this again, as I have posted on this before, for example: http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.com/2013/02/park-island-property-prices-are-poised.html http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.com/2012/09/park-island-property-prices-new-records.html Click here to view the latest published statistical information on  Park Island Property Prices . Park Island property remains exceptional value at current prices compared to property in almost all other part of Hong Kong, so I would expect that prices are likely to keep rising. I will shortly post an update on the latest Park Island ferry, taxi, and bus schedules. A reminder that if you support the proposal for Private Car Parking for Park Island Residents, there is a petition you can sign here:  Park Island Resident's Car Parking Petition. That's it for now. The Park Island Blogger

Super luxury apartments planned for Discovery Bay

Today's SCMP reports that property developer HKR International plans to build six "super-deluxe" houses ranging in size from 6,000 to 8,000 square feet on Discovery Bay. "Each house will enjoy spectacular sea views and the project will be located next to the Discovery Bay Golf Club," said Chan Chi-ming, the head of the Hong Kong business unit at HKR, the developer of Discovery Bay. Agents said the houses planned by HKR could fetch more than HK$150 million each (which by the way makes our most expensive apartments on Park Island look very cheap by comparison!). "Due to their scarcity, they will be sought-after by the rich and famous.". There are 17 houses on Discovery Bay, each of them 5,168 sq ft, with gardens ranging from 6,000 to 9,000 sq ft. One of the houses on Seabee Lane is on the market for HK$120 million. Negotiations with the government over the land premium payable for the proposed project, which will be the 16th phase

Park Island property prices are poised for a new surge

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Property agents around Park Island are reporting strong buying demand for Park Island properties as primarily Hong Kong investors appear to see significant gains ahead for Park Island property as a result of end-user demand. Some agents are forecasting a price of $10,000 psf for regular apartments to be reached by early 2014. I think this is possible but more likely by the end of 2014 or early 2015. Below is the most recent price graph for Park Island, just out today, which seems to confirm this trend. Park Island Price Graph At the end of the graph you can see spike of 5.5% rise in prices over the last month. The themes and the factors driving the continued rises are nothing new. Park Island is great value, excellent quality, and still very affordable compared to almost all other parts of Hong Kong. Borrowing costs are very affordable (and seem poised to remain so for some time yet), and Hong Kong residents are increasingly realizing that they need to preserve the value

Various updates

Property agents are reporting a strong pick up in activity over the last few weeks as transactions start increasing again. Demand is strong form first time buyers wanting to get into the market for smaller apartments, and also apparently very strong from families who have either been renting, or had a smaller place, wanting to upgrade to larger sized places. I was sent this advert recently by the way by a private seller of a so called "combined unit" Park Island apartment: http://admart.asia/en/HongKong/Property/Apartment-for-Sale/page1/36220 . It might be a of interest to people seeking a larger home. Its hard to tell what will happen to the market and what if any other measures the Government puts in place to discourage people form selling, but my guess would be we will see 8-10% gains in prices per year over the next few years, as interest rates look like remaining at rock bottom lows for some time to come, and demand for Hong Kong property keeps rising w