Hong Kong people who employ a foreign domestic worker must provide her with a bedroom, but sometimes maids have to content themselves with just a bed or even a shared room because of the city’s high property prices.
The most expensive maid’s room in Hong Kong, and possibly the world, can now be found at Mount Nicholson, an extravagant development at The Peak that has just broken the record for the most expensive apartments on the planet.
An anonymous buyer has paid HK$1.16 billion (US$148.5 million) for two apartments measuring 4,242 and 4,579 square feet in the joint project by Wheelock Properties and Nan Fung Development.
At more than HK$131,000 per square foot, Mount Nicholson regained the top spot in the city by dwarfing the HK$105,000 per square foot paid to Henderson Land in September for a HK$521 million home at 39 Conduit Road.
Now, a 100-square-foot room suitable for a domestic helper at Mount Nicholson, based on the current market price, would be worth around HK$13 million. That would be equivalent to 245 years of income of a foreign domestic worker at the current monthly rate of HK$4,410.
From another perspective, the domestic worker’s room is as costly as six subsidized housing units in Tuen Mun, where the entry-level price is HK$1.92 million, and it is higher than the cost of a 221-square-foot apartment at Sai Ying Pun, billed as the most expensive nano flat in the world at HK$8 million.
Economist Andy Kwan described the amounts the super-rich pay for a complete house as “crazy,” but the money they dish out for a small to medium-sized apartment is “even more crazy.”
Hong Kong is the world’s most expensive urban centre among 406 cities, according to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.
The prices of private homes in Hong Kong have surged 430% since 2003, the lowest point in the millennium because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). And the residential index has been on another uptrend, with prices surging for the 18th consecutive month to a record high in September.
Ingrid Cheh, director of research at JLL, told the South China Morning Post that the Mount Nicholson transaction entailed the highest per-square-foot price among apartments and condominiums in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, three of Asia’s most mature real-estate markets.
Japan’s most expensive residential building is the Park Mansion apartment complex at Hinokicho Park in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, which was pre-sold recently at 879,320 yen (US$7,845) per square foot.
In Singapore, the most expensive residence is The Marq on Paterson complex, which was transacted at S$6,840 (US$5,045) per square foot back in November 2011.
We (Helpers )don’t need expensive room. A private decent room is more than enough. We need higher salary
Correct
What is the use of a huge maid’s room if you work 16hrs a day and provided leftover foods in return..good treatment to the helper is what we need.
I still dont get the point of this article.Is it advertising the property or just simply discriminating domestic helper’s?
Laughing loudly at this report.what is the connection of a maid’s room over the huge price of her employers property???a maid can be contented with just a small space to rest and as long as she is treated well,she don’t even mind if she share space with a family member.If this news have an even small impact on the maid then i might be happy reading it.????????????
Not all facts are facts at all…binobola lang tayo nga kunyang…who cares…damot pa run ang chekwa
Just hope her employers will not compensate her by making to work from 6am to 12 midnight for that.
This news is discriminating the domestic helpers in HK. The writer can make a lot of comparison or stories to tell how expensive this property. But why use domesyic helper as comparison?
kahit sabihin nila na maid room,Hindi nila ibibigay yan,gawin nilang study room tapos yong katulong sa stock room yan patutulugin…
Publicity purposes.. Whatever!!!! Its not a big deal being a domestic worker if you tell us we have salary increased and 8hours a day work we much appreciate that!!!
As a domestic helper, what is the use of having the most expensive when you have to work 16 hours a day or more with just a minimum salary?
Nonsense..bakit ibigay ba sa amin di naman…so y slap us the 4,410 salary…funny
Much better all employer increase the salary all maids here in HK, that is all maids here happy not needed maids room expensive… get that?
that’s the question.
Not all employers will let thier maids to use that room . instead that will become a store room .
Wow, really? is the helper sleep in that expensive (helper’s room? just asked
Who cares and what’s the purpose of this report.
How true??????
High property prices is a vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s future twenty years after the island reverted back to China. It stands to prosper further facilitating international finance for the renmimbi internationalisation and BRI projects .
I still don’t see the purpose of this article since this doesn’t directly impact the income of the domestic lady in person. Please. ..