The staggering sale price, said to be a world record, illustrates the broader rise in real estate values. By some measures, Hong Kong is already the world’s most expensive housing market per square foot
HONG KONG June 18: - In many places, $664,000 can buy you a nice house. For that price in Hong Kong, you can buy a slab of concrete, roughly 17 feet long and 11 feet wide, to leave your luxury car.
Hong Kong is now home to a very expensive parking spot, the latest sign of a property market run amok. Even in a city well accustomed to costly real estate, the price spiral has confounded the most experienced observers.
“This is basically the price of one flat in Hong Kong,” said Lennon Choy, an associate professor of real estate and construction at the University of Hong Kong. “This is crazy, actually.”
The buyer was listed as Kwan Wai-ming, whom local news outlets identified as executive director of the Huarong Investment Stock Corp. His company declined to comment. That price, paid for a spot in an apartment complex on Hong Kong Island, was a new local record, breaking the previous $615,000 paid for a slightly smaller spot last year.
The huge price paid for a single parking spot illustrates the broader rise in real estate values. By some measures, Hong Kong is already the world’s most expensive housing market per square foot.
While the run-up has enriched property owners and developers, it has led to widespread worries that a generation of young residents will be unable to afford a home. The unaffordability of housing played a role in protests three years ago and has spurred leaders to try to address the problem.
Such an expensive parking spot may seem excessive in a city where transportation can be cheap. Hong Kong has a world-class mass transit system, and a passenger can cross Hong Kong Island for $1.30 on the subway, or - with a little patience - 30 cents by tram.
thestar.com