Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

I've written on the topic of car access to Park Island for residents before and it is always a topic of interest, both to Park Island residents who prefer not to have car access (due to wanting to limit public access/noise/pollution etc) to Park Island, and those who prefer to have cars, due to both the convenience and the likely significant boost in property prices that would undoubtedly result (welcomed by owners, but no so much by those of who rent apartments on Park Island.). See:  http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.sg/2010/11/will-private-cars-ever-be-allowed-on.html I recently received an interesting "unofficial" update today from a senior Hong Kong Transport Department official that I will now share. As some of you may know, in the past, one main reason cited for not allowing private cars for residents of Park Island has been that the Transport Department had concerns about the effect on traffic congestion over the Tsing Ma Bridge and...

Check out these bands who recently performed at Cafe Roma on Park Island.  You probably wouldn't find people this cooling living in Discovery Bay...  WHITE NOISE JOE STEINER & JAMES BEETON - Acustic Gig Also some of Park Island's female talent visible in the first clip - :)

In a post in 2012 I wrote about plans to significantly expand/replenish the main beach on Ma Wan. See : http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.com/2012/09/ma-wans-tung-wan-beach-to-be-extended.html  Map of proposed Tung Wan Beach replenishment project. I spoke to the Department of Leisure and Cultural Services today for an update, as the previous plans were to commence works in March or April of 2014, and so far I have not see the beach grow. The latest plans are now for works to be commenced in March/April of 2015, with the project to be finished by the end of 2015. So, what caused the delay? Well it's typical Government bureaucracy, (as is often the case). In a nutshell, the volume of sand to be added is so large that it will "significantly alter the shoreline and high-water mark". In essence under some Ordinances, this is considered to be "creating new land". So even though the Department of Leisure and Cultural Services has approved the pro...

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

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...

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.

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?