Bubble risk: A general view of the Mount Nicholson project developed by Wheelock. Hong Kong’s property market is running red hot across land, commercial and residential buildings. — Reuters

HONG KONG: An unidentified buyer paid HK$132,000 (US$17,000) per sq ft for a luxury flat in Hong Kong’s exclusive Peak neighbourhood, making it Asia’s most expensive apartment by area, according to Knight Frank LLP.

The buyer shelled out more than HK$1.16bil (US$149mil) Monday for two adjacent apartments at No. 8 Mount Nicholson, said Wheelock Properties Ltd. The record was set by the smaller of the two, which sold for HK$560mil. The project is a joint venture with Nan Fung Development.

Hong Kong’s property market is running red hot across land, commercial and residential buildings. Soaring home prices have put the city in bubble risk territory as local and foreign investors pile in, making a “mild correction” likely, according to the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index.

Secondary residential prices have climbed 11% in the past 12 months, according to Centaline Property Agency.

Such purchases also highlight the extreme differences between rich and poor in Hong Kong, which is the world’s least affordable city to buy a house. It would take 2,745 years worth of the entire median annual income of HK$204,000 to buy the record 4,242 sq ft property on the Peak.

“The wealth gap has increased a lot,” said Cusson Leung, head of research for Hong Kong property and conglomerates at JPMorgan Chase & Co. “The people on the street and the people on the Peak are separated by 2,745 years.” — Bloomberg

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