Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

If you happen to know who the photographer is please let me know. I would like to give him or her credit for these amazing images. Apartment blocks on Park Island The New Village on Ma Wan, Park Island

Cool drone photo of the Blue Blue Club on Park Island. (Or is the Blu Bub club?). To took this pic from the "Ma Wan Network" Facebook page, Blu Blu Club, Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong  

Agents on Ma Wan say asking prices hit all time high since this weekend, especially as people are seeking more space and more bedrooms as the work from home trend continues. They also complain that as soon as they find buyers, the sellers will put up their prices, which must be incredibly annoying both for buyers and for agents. Yet HSBC and Standard Chartered property valuations for Park Island are still below record valuations that we had a few years ago, so that makes it even harder for buyers to get finance. (Maybe to deliberately push buyers to new developments?) Who is correct I guess time will tell. But hold on to your hats. As an expat in Hong Kong for many years I have seen in the past how Hong Kongers can behave when it comes to property, It can get crazy once it gets to a certain point of demand where they all turn into a frenzy!

Change is upon us. Those of us who hike around the island will have seen some parts to access the Old Village fenced off. This is because the HKSAR has announced a land grant to Ma Wan Park Limited (MWPL). MAWP is a subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHK) (who developed the Park Island estate on Ma Wan). Under an agreement with the Government, MAWP is in charge of both the development and then the subsequent operation of Ma Wan Park (MWP). The Ma  Wan Park  is classified as "a community project without commercial gain" and the facilities developed and provided are intended to benefit both the Ma Wan community and Hong Kong as whole. The operation is intended to be "self-financing and commercially sustainable" with any net profit to be generated from the operation should be put back into the future beneficial development of Ma Wan. Both parties have been in discussions for a long time on Phase 2. The development will focus on the preservation, restoration...

This post is not so much specifically about Park Island, but rather about the HK property market 2021 outlook. I'm amazed at the prices new condos in Hong Kong are being snapped up at in recent days. A friend of mine just bought s 570 square foot place in Admility HK, on Star Street for 17.5m off the plan. Add to that around 3m of stamp duty are you are looking at around 20m total cost . He's one of those people who were lucky enough to get into the HK property market many years ago, and now he usually buys a new condo once every few years using prior gains as equity. His advice - "HK property always goes up over time. It is never a bad time to get into the market. The key is to take that first step onto the ladder. It gets easier from from there". He's an expat, but what he says about property is almost a universal and unquestioned truth for local Hong Kongers also. Here's the condo:  EightStarStreet . Nice development, and location but its not cheap. What do...

Nice way to start and end the day...

We have seen a number of recent announcements from the Government pushing e-cars (and also cleaner fuel ferries). For example: https://www.asiaone.com/asia/hong-kong-phase-out-fossil-fuel-cars-and-go-all-electric-minister-says https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3035165/hong-kong-phase-out-fossil-fuel-cars-and-go-all The reports all indicate plans for Hong Kong plans to phase out all fossil fuel vehicles over the next 10 to 20 years and switch to electric modes of commercial and public transport with a view to improving air quality, One commonly cited objection to those who are opposed to more residents owning cars on Ma Wan / Park Island is that residents want "clean air" and chose Park Island "to be away from pollution". Whilst I personally doubt that normal cars would add any significant noticeable "pollution" on Ma Wan, I do think that the idea of electric cars only for Ma Wan would be great. These cars are ...

My last post on the Park Island blog was titled  Well that didn't take long . I was referring to the admirable community spirit of Ma Wan residents cleaning up after Hong Kong got hit my massive typhoon, but I could just as well have used that same title for the subject of today's topic, which is about the rapid recovery of the Hong Kong property market. Take a look at the graph of Park Island property prices for 2019: Park Island Price Graph 2019 Look at that massive spike that has taken place over the last few weeks. This price increase has been mirrored across the Hong Kong property market generally, but the upward trend for Park Island has been particularly sharp. Why? Well, at a general level, we have the US Fed reducing its outlook for rate rises in 2019. This is positive globally for assets (as assets are usually financed using debt, and if the cost of debt is lower then assets become more "affordable"). In Hong Kong this effect is even ...

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...

Below is the latest Centa City Index price update for Park Island. Park Island Price Graph 2017 Prices now average at $9619.55 psf net, (and over $12500 psf gross). Prices have followed a relatively constant growth trend  since 2009. I spoke to an experienced developer's daughter last month who told me that her family believe average prices will hit over 10K psf net by Chinese new year. (By the way, this also makes it very easy to calculate price. For example a 550 net psf average apartment price would be 5.5m HKD). She expected relatively solid growth of 8% per annum over the next 2-3 years, and indicated that she would only be concerned if overall HK prices spiked up something like 20% in a year, which would in turn lead to a further fear of missing out HK-style frenzy (which would in turn eventually lead to a bubble burst). China values social stability and so would ideally like to see contained but constant, non-volatile growth for HK in a way that keeps the majority...

Its pretty damn hot in HK right now, And I mean both the weather AND the property market. People are making good use of the pools on Park Island and the ocean and beachs at Ma Wan, and agents are doing well for themselves selling to property to eager buyers who seem to be of the view that demand for property in HK is going to rise in the coming months and years ahead. Property prices are at record historical prices, but this is of course also the case in many other major cities in the world, whether Sydney, London, Berlin, New York, Shanghai.  Many experienced property analysts who have seen prior cycles believe that the fundamental conditions need to support a new boom over the next few years are firmly in place. Looking at the Centadata property graph below, many are expecting a new peak to get up to 200 on their price graph by the end of 2018 as the market starts to accelerate. Hong Kong Property Price Graph 2017 This weekend we saw may buyers, (probably a ...