Carina Lau made a sudden move

On February 28 this year, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Paul Chan Mo-po, delivered the Budget of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government for the 2024-2025 financial year, which pointed out that all residential property demand management measures (commonly known as "hot measures") will be abolished, that is, all residential property transactions will no longer be subject to Special Stamp Duty, Buyer's Stamp Duty and New Residential Stamp Duty.

Benefiting from the Hong Kong SAR government's comprehensive "withdrawal", according to Midland Realty's monitoring data on April 2, many real estate transactions in Hong Kong are hot: in March, the number of first-hand housing transactions in Hong Kong rose more than 14 times month-on-month to 4,200, a new monthly high since 1998, and the top ten second-hand housing estate transactions rose about 2.6 times month-on-month to 359. According to Hong Kong Commercial Daily, large-scale luxury housing transactions have also become active, and star Carina Lau sold her house and made a profit of 21 million Hong Kong dollars.

Carina Lau made a sudden move

Sell a property and make a big profit of 21 million Hong Kong dollars!

Hong Kong's property market has achieved remarkable results in a short period of time, and Hong Kong's property market has been hot recently. According to the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, a unit at No. 9 Shenwan, a real estate project in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong, was sold for HK$73.8 million at the beginning of this month, with a price of about HK$37,866 per square foot.

Carina Lau bought the above unit for HK$52.728 million as early as 2011, holding the goods for about 13 years, with a book appreciation of HK$21.072 million, an appreciation of about 40%.

ACCORDING TO THE DATA, THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE UNIT WAS GOOD ADVANCE INVESTMENTS LIMITED, AND IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE DIRECTOR OF THE COMPANY IS CARINA LAU.

It is understood that Carina Lau and Tony Leung have always been keen on investing in properties, and they own at least 10 luxury properties in Hong Kong with a total market value of about 920 million Hong Kong dollars. According to the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Carina Lau has made great gains in the property market in recent years, including the above-mentioned units, and all of the three luxury houses sold in a row have been successful.

IN MAY 2020, IT WAS RUMORED THAT CARINA LAU SOLD ROOM C OF THE HIGH-RISE IN MID-LEVELS WEST FOR 44 MILLION YUAN, WITH A SALEABLE AREA OF 1,301 SQUARE FEET AND A TRANSACTION PRICE OF 44 MILLION YUAN.

The real estate was purchased by Carina Lau for 39.09 million yuan through Jiajin Investment Company in 2011, held for 9 years, and made a profit of 4.91 million yuan or 12% on the books.

In addition, as early as 2011, Jiajin Investment Co., Ltd. also purchased two units at No. 9 Shenwan for about 77.65 million yuan, of which a duplex unit in 8 blocks changed hands for 30 million yuan in 2021, and the registered buyer is Wang Fumei, who has the same name as Carina Lau's mother.

Together with the above-mentioned two units of No. 9 Shenwan, Carina Lau has sold three luxury houses in a row in the past 4 years, with a book appreciation of 31 million yuan.

In addition to Hong Kong, Carina Lau has many properties in the mainland, with luxury houses in Beijing, Suzhou, and Shanghai. It is worth noting that Carina Lau was previously asked by the media whether she was involved in investing in the stock market, and she responded to the media: "I don't really know much about investment, I have no concept of numbers since I was a child, so if I generally invest, I will only invest in some real estate and other things." ”

Image source: Visual China

Hong Kong's property market has been booming recently

The volume and value of first-hand orders hit a 5-year high

Carina Lau made a lot of money selling luxury houses, which shows that the Hong Kong property market has been hot recently.

For non-Hong Kong local buyers, corporate buyers, and buyers who purchase more than two units, they are required to pay 15% of the property price and new residential stamp duty before the "revocation of the spicy scheme", and only need to pay ad valorem stamp duty after the "revocation", depending on the property value ranging from HK$100 to 4.25% of the property price.

After the Hong Kong property market was fully withdrawn, the performance of the property market turned booming, and the transaction volume of the new market increased sharply, with the first-hand transaction volume and value both exceeding the same period last year: According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po report, according to the "First-hand Residential Property Sales Information Network" and market news, the first-hand transaction volume has recorded 5,543 cases since the beginning of this year (as of April 9), an increase of about 43.5% from 3,862 cases in the same period last year, and the amount involved is about 65.16 billion yuan, an increase of about 45.1% compared with 44.92 billion yuan in the same period last year , Qi hit a five-year high after the same period in 2019.

According to the monitoring of Hong Kong's Centaline Real Estate, after Hong Kong announced a comprehensive withdrawal, mainland customers and corporate customers all competed for real estate, and first-hand and second-hand transactions rebounded significantly.

The first-hand transaction rose sharply, and the performance of new luxury real estate projects was more prominent. According to agency statistics, 159 first-hand large-scale transactions with a property price of more than HK$30 million were recorded after the withdrawal, while there were only 22 transactions in the month before the withdrawal, and the transactions were mainly concentrated in the Kai Tak Runway District of the new luxury residential area, and at the same time, there were 11 new transactions of over 100 million yuan after the withdrawal.

In addition, according to the statistics of Centaline Real Estate, more than 150 groups of large-scale customer sweeping cases were recorded in the first-hand market after the withdrawal, involving more than 420 units, accounting for more than 10% of the overall transactions, with a total property value of more than HK$4.1 billion, and nearly 90% of the units swept in by large-scale customers were small and medium-sized units with a property price of less than HK$10 million.

Mainland buyers have become a major part of home buyers

"Some mainlanders buy 9 sets at a time"

It is worth noting that mainland customers have become a major force in this round of house purchases, and some Hong Kong real estate agents said, "Basically all my guests are from the mainland", from the perspective of demand, self-occupation and investment. For the "just need people", children's education and low prices have become the biggest incentives for them to buy a house.

On April 20, a new sale property in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong ushered in the second phase of the lottery day, which was favored by many buyers due to the subway on the building and the rich educational resources in the surrounding area. There are more than 20 small round tables in the lobby of the sales office, crowded with successful buyers and sales consultants, eagerly discussing payment matters. Real estate agents shuttle between the elevator and the lobby, dropping off a buyer and waiting for the next customer at the elevator.

Nearly two months after the Hong Kong property market was fully "withdrawn", this scene was staged in many real estate projects in Hong Kong.

At present, the price of a one-bedroom unit with an area of more than 20 square meters is less than 5 million Hong Kong dollars, and the price of a two-bedroom unit of 39 square meters is more than 6 million Hong Kong dollars, which is two or three percent lower than the peak, and it has a good appreciation prospect in the future, which is also the main reason for Hong Kong people and mainland customers to compete. Mr. Guo, a real estate agent in Hong Kong, told reporters. He also revealed that a customer in Guangzhou came straight to invest, and on the 7th, he came to draw lots to grab two one-bedroom units in a real estate project in Cheung Sha Wan, with a total price of more than 8 million Hong Kong dollars, and took the high-speed rail back to raise money and apply for a mortgage after paying a deposit of 400,000 yuan.

Miss Ho, a sales clerk in Hong Kong, said that many mainland customers come purely for investment, accounting for 60% or 70%, which is used for rental and appreciation. Ms. He said that she has recently sold more than 10 sets, and 70% of them are mainlanders. There is no shortage of buyers who buy several homes at once. Miss Ho for example: On the evening of March 7, a new real estate lottery was drawn, and a mainland customer bought 9 sets. She said that the buyer had been preparing to buy a luxury property in Hong Kong and had been waiting because of the high property tax. Now that he has withdrawn from the spicy, he has decisively made a move for investment, and the houses he bought are about 5 million Hong Kong dollars each.

According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po report, in early April, a sales office, Miss Zhao from Fujian said, "I saw the news report that Hong Kong's 'spicy' after the sharp drop in housing tax, thinking that the future of real estate appreciation prospects are good, so I and Zhejiang's friend Ms. Qin flew from Xiamen together, the two of them are ready to buy a small apartment, the total price is about 5 million, and now they have been waiting for the number." After waiting for more than 20 minutes, they were called, and the two hugged and laughed like winning the lottery, lamenting that they were so lucky.

When the lottery officers called out the number of the winners, they responded excitedly and loudly, raising their hands high and running to the office desk to pay the deposit and go through the down payment and other formalities.

Industry forecast: The decline in property prices is expected to slow down

Of course, there are many who are still waiting to see what happens. Some mainland visitors have come to Hong Kong for half a year through the "Quality Talent Scheme" and have already put buying a house on the agenda, while some are about to get permanent residence in Hong Kong, but they are still considering whether to buy a house or not.

After half a year in Hong Kong, Ms. Lai's home purchase plan began to be put on the agenda. Miss Lai told reporters that the "withdrawal of spicy" has a partial impact on her home purchase plan, but it is not the most important factor, "the original intention is to develop in Hong Kong for a long time, and I am more optimistic about the preservation of the value of Hong Kong residences."

Ms. Zhao, also from the Mainland, currently runs a study abroad consulting firm in the Mainland and Hong Kong. In her plan, the child will study in Hong Kong in the future, so the plan to buy a house was originally listed. This plan was brought forward after the Hong Kong SAR government introduced the "spicy removal" measures. After much comparison, Ms. Chiu is ready to buy a second-hand house in Tai Wai or a new house in Kai Tak.

Now, judging from the data in March, after the comprehensive "withdrawal of spicy", the Hong Kong property market ushered in a "small spring".

Liu Jiahui, chief analyst of Midland Realty, pointed out that after the withdrawal, the demand is dominated by self-use buyers and long-term investors, and it is estimated that the first-hand trading in April may fall, but it is believed that the number of transactions in the second quarter will be between 5,500 and 6,000, an increase of up 22% quarter-on-quarter. If trading remains high, the decline in property prices is expected to slow down and gradually stabilise.

After Hong Kong

Macau's property market is also fully "withdrawn"

Following Hong Kong, Macau has also followed. The Legislative Assembly of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) held a plenary session on 18 April and voted to approve the bill on the "withdrawal of immovable property" (i.e., the abolition of tax measures related to the management of real estate demand), including the abolition of special stamp duty, special stamp duty and stamp duty, which will take effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, Lei Wai Nong, said that the original intention of the policy is to hope for a stable supply and healthy and sustainable development of the real estate market. After careful assessment and consideration of the existing factors, it was decided to further withdraw the temporary management measures.

Source: Guangzhou Daily, Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, The Paper, Voice of the Greater Bay Area, Financial Services Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government

Editor: Miyoshi