Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

Check out how quickly Ma Wan got cleaned up after the typhoon. What a great sense of community Park Islanders have! It was really quite touching and inspiring to see so many pitch in and help out in restoring their homes after the typhoon.

The residents of Park Island, Ma Wan, endured incredibly powerful winds and heavy rain, and survived in style. Overall, the damage to apartments on Park Island was surprisingly minimal. The most common type of damage was due to water leaking in through windows or various air vents such as in the kitchen, or bathrooms, or via air conditioning units. This is a testimony to the solid and high quality construction quality of the Park Island apartments. The outdoor areas of Park Island suffered some damage, most of it rather nominal (although it looked pretty bad in the immediate aftermath. Palm trees stripped entirely of leaves, tree branches blown off. Here are a few pictures after the typhoon. Monster super typhoon Mangkhut Foliage on Park Island damaged by the typhoon Lucky this heavy structure didn't land on anyone Image the forced needed to rip out this tree Lots of rubbish blew onto our beautiful beach :( But it will be cleaned up soon. ...

Cool photo. Well done to whoever took the pic!

To the amazing photographer, please let me know who you are so I can credit you! Its great that we can "capture" history before this area is re-developed...

Not a bad place to hang our on a day off, with a nice cold beer, bottle of wine, and a picnic blanket :) I would add though, like all parts of HK, crap does wash up onto the beaches (especially plastic). This beach on Ma Wan, whilst not an officially Government sanctioned beach, is regularly cleaned up by local residents. Thank you for caring!!!

It is time for me to update the guidance I provided on HK property stamp duty few years ago here:  HK Stamp Duty on Property  for 2018. Whilst the principles remain the same (eg charge stamp duty, as part of various measures to keep the market from rising too quickly), the stamp duty calculation formula is a little more complicated.  This increasing complexity is a shame, as Hong Kong has always prided itself on simplicity when it comes to doing financial transactions, as well as being a country (well now actually in fact a "city", albeit a very special one) that embraces the free market and abstains as much as possible from interference in the free market. These "cooling measures" are intended to suppress value, (eg keeping prices down below what would be the case in a more open market). Sooner or later, when stamp duties are normalized, the prices of property in Hong Kong will move up higher as the many years of suppressed value is unlocked relea...

We really do live in a lovely place!

Beautiful photos that capture the moment perfectly.

Many residents will know that beloved patrol dog Sky passed away last year, on 22 December 2017. The Park Island patrol dogs accompany security guards on night patrol. They are apparently trained, much like police dogs are, although I am not aware of them actually ever putting their skills to use in catching anyone bad. In the early days, the Park Island Management company apparently used to keep these dogs locked up in a cage in the dark in the daytime, and only allowed them out on patrol at night. Many older Chinese people really don't have a good understanding of how dogs think or how they should be treated. However, fortunately, residents found out how these dogs were being treated, and educated management on a better way to treat dogs. Over time, more and more residents began to care for Sky and her life surely must have become more enriched, fulfilling, comfortable, and happy.  Some people say dogs are man's best friend. Some consider dogs to be man'...

My last post,  park island property prices hit fresh.high , published in November 2017 noted that the p rice of property for sale on Park Island has followed a relatively constant  growth trend  since 2009.  At that time, prices for Park Island apartments had just hit a fresh record level of $9619 psf. Today, prices are around 5% higher, at $10,085 psf (not just for Park Island but for the Hong Kong property market in general). The most recent property price graph, along with my "back of the envelope" doodles,  show where prices might go over the next 4 years. A price level of $13,000 psf by 2022 is certainly not out of the question. Property Price outlook next 5 years (Park Island, Hong Kong) As I have mentioned in previous posts, with every year of rising GPD in China, there is an increased cash-pile and consequent increased purchasing power, from the world's second largest economy, with over 1 billion people and a rising middle cl...