Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

Always happy to give a plug to a local restaurant. These guys do pretty good breakfasts apparently. Go check them out! Located at no 13 Tin Liu New Village, Ma Wan, HK. (If you are new to Ma Wan, just ask a local where the "New Village" is. Phone 62960207 Brunch on Ma Wan Bistro Food Journey Burger on Ma Wan

All the major banks in HK offer indicative valuations of properties in HK. These valuations can be helpful as a guide of how much a bank is prepared to lend, based on their assessment of a property's value. Some banks are more aggressive than others, so if you are seeking a bank that will maximize its lending to you, it is worth shopping around a little. Some banks may be more flexible, such that if you need, say a 10% larger valuation they might extend this to you. Also, almost all the banks lag around 2 months behind the market, as they base their valuations on recorded transactions. Finally, in a rising market, buyers, at least historically have paid 10-15% "above bank val". My feeling is that for now, the rule of thumb is bank val +5%, though this may rise if the market heats up again. Some useful links for HK bank valuations below: Bank of China property valuation HSBC property valuation Standard Chartered Bank property valuation Hang Seng property v

This article is a nice read:  In love with a falling city I wonder how others feel and reflect on the past 10 years in Hong Kong. My feelings are mixed, but I believe better days are ahead. Hong Kong is in a very special and unique position, both its place in Asia and with regard to its status and relationship with China.

It used to be relatively accepted thinking that Hong Kong would never get a casino as "the Jockey Club has a monopoly on gambling in Hong Kong". And historically, and before China yielded a greater influence over Hong Kong this was pretty much a given. Indeed, the HKJC was (and still is) a strong lobbyist against any form of competition, and was (and still is) backed by many people of power and influence from the pre-1997 colonial era. Hong Kong already has "floating casino boats", and many Hong Kong citizens these days simply gamble on-line, or through more traditional Chinese triad associated shadow "gambling facilitators" (who take bets, lend money, pay out money, and when needed, collect money via various methods). And right next to Hong Kong we of course have the gambling mecca of Asia, Macau (where many casino companies are actually listed in Hong Kong, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ("HKSE") including Sands China, Galaxy

With Ocean all around Ma Wan, and with many of the residents having ocean view apartments, its no surprise that we have a great collection of photos capturing the view across the ocean. Here are some of the photos I like best.:

The SCMP reported here as to  Why was Ma Wan Park Built? Sooner or later it will be replaced with something far more usable I believe. Either a proper park without fake animal statues, or maybe a car park for Park Island residents.

Here's where we ended up as we head to the close of 2016. Park Island Property Prices 2016 Prices rocketed up in the latter part of 2016 to hit new highs, primarily on buyers continuing to see the great value Park Island offers. We are now at an average price of over $11,000 psf net, and over $8,500 psf gross. The attached graph shows gross prices. What is the difference between gross and net property prices in HK?  The "saleable area", or "net area", is the actual size of a home, including balconies. The gross price is the floor area which includes both the saleable area plus a share of the common areas, bay windows and facilities). So, if you are looking purely at a measure of internal space for property in HK, go by the net area (aka saleable area). See here for a more detailed explanation:  Gross sqft vs Net sqft SCMP article . Readers may be interested to see how where we ended in 2016 compared to my predictions and forecasted  extrapola