Land Registry records have confirmed that China Resources Land’s acquisition of a house in Hong Kong’s exclusive Island South district in early June broke all records for the price of a single dwelling.
The 92,087-square-foot (8,555-square-meter) property at 39 Shouson Hill Road went for HK$5.93 billion (US$760 million), or HK$85,800 a square foot. Other properties have been more expensive on an area basis — some have cost HK$100,000 a square foot in the past two years — but none has involved a bigger sale price.
Previously the most costly house had been Hotung Garden at 75 Peak Road on Victoria Peak, which sold for HK$5.1 billion in 2014.
It has also set new standards for the state-owned Chinese developer, as the acquisition price represents one-third of the HK$19.2 billion profit China Resources Land made last year. There is more pain to come: the firm will have to pay 30% stamp duty, which amounts to HK$1.78 billion.
The Shouson Hill Road property was owned by the Chou family, whose return is 30,000 above the original purchase price. The family paid a mere HK$200,000 for the house way back in 1952.
China Resources has not said what it intends to do with the land, but there are existing approvals for construction of two buildings of three stories with a total floor area of up to 69,065 square feet. Any new homes could sell for as much as HK$180,000 per square foot, with buyers attracted by its sweeping sea views and affluent residents.
Number 45 Shouson Hill Road is the official residence of Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, and industrialist Chan Tou-suen, father-in-law of former Secretary for Justice Wong-lung, is at 51 Shouson Hill Road. Former Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chairman Ronald Arculli lives nearby, as do Legislative Council member Michael Tien Puk-sun and canto-pop singer Eason Chan Yik-shun.
Tycoon Li Ka-shing famously lived at 22 Shousan Hill Road with his elder son Victor Li Tzar-Kuoi while his house at 68 Deep Water Bay Road was being renovated between 2007 and 2013. The three houses on the site were renumbered to 1, 2 and 3 Shousan Hill Drive so that “superman” Li could become “No 1” among his neighbors.