Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

According to agents on the island last week was a busy month, with lots of enquiries from potential buyers. I was sent the article below by a property agent on Park Island: Park Island Property Newspaper Article In summary, the article reports that  "small size apartment" sales broke record twice within the last month. Park Island, Block 17, Mid Floor, Flat G Size 449sqft Price sold 3.12M ($6949 per sqf) The owner brought in 2010 $2.45M and how now sold earning $1.33M up 54.8%. According to the agent, the seller is now looking at buying a larger apartment on the Park Island. My comment on that is that whilst it appear the seller made a good profit, the larger apartment will of course also have risen in price, so from that perspective his "relative gain" may not actually be that much, as apartment prices everywhere (not just on Park Island) have risen substantially since 2010.   Some of these "small size" apartments were originally

Over the last month or so, more residents on Park Island have become aware of wrangling between the ferry service provider to Park Island, Park Island Transport Company Limited ("PITCL") http://www.pitcl.com.hk/eng/html/ferry.htm  and the Park Island Owners Committee regarding the ferry charges. For historical reasons, the raising of ferry charges in Hong Kong is a very sensitive issue. People unfamiliar with why this issue is sensitive may want to read up on what happened back in 1966 when the Star Ferry proposed raising prices: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_1966_riots . PITCL is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited. It not only runs the ferry services but also the bus services to Park Island. There is no doubt that the bus services to Park Island are very profitable for PITCL. Some of the ferry trips are also profitable for PITCL, especially weekend ferry services and rush hour times, eg 7.30am to 9.30am and 5pm to 8.30pm. For times o

I recently came across the blog site about Ma Wan Village http://mawanvillagecentral.wordpress.com/ . The site seems to be dormant now, but it did provide some information on what takes place each year in the structure that is erected in the Ma Wan Village, next to the Park Island Estate. Apparently its a traditional Chinese Opera, that performs each year around Chinese New Year. I never knew what happened there, and now am planning to attend the next one. I would assume foreigner's are more than welcome to attend? Or is this more for a long term Ma Wan villagers only? If someone can clarify or if anyone who is a foreigner in Hong Kong has attended, do feel free to post your comments about the Chinese opera here on this blog. Chinese opera on Ma Wan Village - the stage is constructed Chinese Opera Performance A traditional Chinese festival performance in Hong Kong

Tom Holland piece in his SCMP Monitor Column dated August 27, 2012 has commented on the question many are asking. Is Hong Kong property overvalued? He writes: As Hong Kong property prices set new highs, fears continue to mount that the market is a momentum-driven bubble in imminent danger of bursting. Yet, although some softening of prices is possible given the weakness of the global trade cycle and the mainland's slowing growth rate, this column has long argued that there is little threat of a 1997-style crash any time soon. The reason is simple: although prices have gained dramatically over the last few years, there is no sign that the current boom - unlike the one in 1997 - has been propelled by a rapid increase in leverage. If you doubt that - and many readers do - here is a little more evidence. The second chart shows the growth in value of outstanding mortgages plotted against the nominal growth rate of Hong Kong's economy. In the run-up to 1997, the rise in mortga

Agents on Park Island are reporting that a number of "new records" for property prices, both apartments for rent and for sale were achieved this month. Transaction values also have noticably picked up after being quite low, historically, over the last year. I'm trying to get some exact data from agents and then will put it up here. What is happening on Park Island is probably a reflection of what is happening in general for the Hong Kong property market, which seems to be super high priced property is slowing or falling (both rentals and sales prices), with low and medium priced property continuing to increase.

I received the following email from someone moving to Hong Kong and wondering were to live. My response is posted below (personal details removed). If readers of the Park Island Blog want to post a comment (either on the initial email enquiry, or on my response, feel free to do so!) Hi, I will be moving to Hong Kong some time next month. I've just started looking for accommodation and trying to speak to people who have experience of living in Hong Kong. We're a small family - myself, my wife and our 3 months old baby girl. Not quite into the city night life to be honest. So we prefer to live away from hustle bustle in a community setting where we will hopefully make family friends. I really don't mind 30-40 mins of commute each way. Office is in Olympic MTR area. First 3 months, however, I'll work in Central. Your blog provided a lot of good info on Park Island. I am hoping to get your views on how you think the construction quality and facilities in PI compar

I stole this picture from The Ma Wan Network web-page :) Sunset over the ocean from Ma Wan At some point I plan to write a full posting about the The Ma Wan Network. It's really quite a good resource for Park Island residents.

Below are some new photos of the old Chinese village on Ma Wan. To get there, head towards the Noah's Arc main entrance. Near the man-made "nature park", you will see a path. This leads down to the village, so follow that down.  I already did a previous post about the Ma Wan old village here: http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.com/2011/03/old-village-on-ma-wan.html Below are some photos of the old village on Ma Wan I took on a recent hike, this time with a better camera. This Ma Wan village house must have looked nice in its prime! Banana trees on Ma Wan  Ma Wan Old Village Are you wondering what on earth that strange white building in the backround is? That is the new Solar Tower being built on Ma Wan. It will apparently be used as Hong Kong's leading astronomy observation center. I presume they chose Ma Wan for the cleaner air and less light pollution, but I would think that no-where in Hong Kong is really ideal for astronomic observation.

A few random photos I took around Park Island with my new i-phone, trying to be a little fancy with the panoramic mode. The bridge to Park Island (Tsing Ma Bridge) Looking over the Park Island Piazza and the Blue Blue Club pools The beach on Park Island Park Island Beach Photo of Park Island Estate, the ocean, and the Tsing Ma Bridge View of the apartments on Park Island A sunny day on Park Island Tree-lined boulevard along the Park Island Estate Towers (ocean is on the left). 

Seems prices on our island hit a record high last week, now just a touch short off 6000psf. http://hk.centadata.com/cci/estate_info_e.aspx?id=008600 A few comments to consider when interpreting the data, and deciding whether to buy or sell: 1 - Will prices hold up during a new financial crisis coming from Europe? 2 - Park Island prices migh be up, how how about rentals? If rentals are not also rising then yields are dropping (unless interest rates have dropped, which they cannot really do as they are already all time lows). 3 - How about transaction volumes? If prices are up, but in the context of transaction volume being very low, what does this mean. 4 - Are prices on Park Island basically mirroring HK property prices trends, or is Park Island over (or under) performing HK generally.

Park Island Ferry Terminal

The Anacapri sales data below is sourced from Sun Hun Kai. I will also try to put up some details of secondary transaction records for AnaCapri Park Island once they start coming through. From speaking to agents it seems that initial quick on-sells were around 8-12% up, but that for anything that's being offered for on-sale now people are seeking around 20% above what they paid. For interested buyers of AnaCapri apartments on the secondary market, as I mentioned in a previous posting, it may be that as properties fall due for settlement some buyers might lower their prices. This is what has happened at some times in the Hong Kong property market. Having said that, rates are so low right now, the desire to do this is likely not to be as strong as it was in Hong Kong when interest rates were higher. AnaCapri Park Island Transaction Details  Block 座數, Villa 單位 Floor樓層 03/03/2012 33 C 3 HK$ 7,749,100.00 05/03/2012 32 B 6 HK$ 14,247,300.00 05/03/2012 33 C 1 HK$ 11,886,300.

In part 1 of this series,  A hike around Ma Wan Island - Part 1  I posted photos of the path up to the top of the mountain on Ma Wan. In this part 2 of that series, I will post pics taken from the top down to the other side which faces Hong Kong island. The Tsing Ma Bridge viewed from the top of Ma Wan Once at the top, you will walk past the gravestones and tombs of local Ma Wan villagers. And on the other side you will get an amazing view of this island here. Its so inviting, and I would love to swim over to it some time! Island viewed from Ma Wan On the other side, you will also see a very private nice beach. There is also a nice pier on this side of the island. Here is a photo of the pier looking towards Ma Wan. You can see the Tsing Ma bridge in the distance. There is also a small pagoda with seats that you can use to rest in the shade, or have a picnic. PS - Be sure to bring water with you, especially if you are hiking in the summer months. There are no

A great photo here of Park Island ex-pats having fun down on the beach with a toga party. It's not actually an annual Park Island event, but if not, perhaps it should be :) Park Island Toga Party I have had friends from HK island ask me what the social scene is like in Park Island, and they are often suprised at how much fun the expats living there have. Drinks (at the bars (often Cafe Roma's) or onw of the Ma Wan restaurants, or at people's apartments) are always happening. Lots of BBQs. Hanging out by the pool. Doing sports together (hiking, gym, swimming, football, martial arts). Having out at a friend's apartment watching football or the F1. There's always something going on.    As for partying in the bars and clubs on HK island, that's just 15 mins away by taxi. There seems to be two types of ex-pats on Park Island. The younger crowd, who are still into the clubbing on HK island (we see them sometimes coming back home at 6-7am in the morning!) and th

Some photos of some nice interior rennovation of a Hong Kong apartment, in Park Island, Ma Wan. This apartment is 2 bedrooms, and 740 square feet. Nice work guys! Their website is http://www.goodliving.com.hk/ .

Despite the high deposit ratios imposed by the HKMA for propety loans in Hong Kong, property prices in Hong Kong appear to be starting a march towards new highs. With borrowing rates so low, rental prices ever increasing, and asset prices in Asia rising, Hong Kong residents seem to be finding property to be an attractive investment, and one which will benefit them as asset prices across the region rise. In a good article about Hong Kong property prices http://www.chinadailyapac.com/article/hkma-worries-over-renewed-property-market-asset-bubble  and an eventual asset bubble, Chinadaily published the following points: Local home prices have already advanced more than 5 percent in the last month. The Centa-City Leading Index (CCL), an index used to gauge the local home market’s price trend, rose for the fourth consecutive weeks for the first time in 52-week that pushed the CCL to a 24-week high. The 99.17 reading represented a cumulative surge of 5.07 percent of local home prices in

A reader of this site, commenting on my post containing a  Park Island Property Price Chart , requested that rather than provide an overall summary of Park Island prices, that I provide a chart for each Phase of Park Island. So, below I am now attaching Price Graphs for Park Island Phase 1, Park Island Phase 2, Park Island Phase 3, and Park Island Phase 5. The period covered is the last 2 years. (There is no Park Island Phase 4 as "4" is considered an unlucky number in Hong Kong). Park Island Phase 1 Prices Park Island Phase 2 Prices Park Island Phase 3 Prices Park Island Phase 5 Prices The line shows the average prices per square foot for each transaction, and the bar graph in red shows transaction volume. PS - I also recently received a comment from a reader encouraging me to post things of interest about Park Island other than just comments about prices. I have taken note of that comment, and hope I can strike the right balance between people who are

I have no idea what language this is, but it came to my attention today that they had featured this site for information about Park Island http://hongkong.info.pl/to-tak-jak-w-chinach/ . If someone knows what language this is do let me know! Polish or Russian perhaps? I did notice some interesting sites mentioned on that site. One is http://www.bigwhiteguy.com/  which is about a gwailo living in Hong Kong and his various observations on life in HK. The other is a site related to Lamma Island called http://www.lamma.com.hk/ . This is a great site related to Lamma Island and the Lamma Island community. I wish we had something similar for Park Island.