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Mukul Munish

News broke yesterday that a Hong Kong couple made a whopping US$330,000 profit in nine months by reselling a parking lot at a luxury estate in Ho Man Tin. Are parking lots a better investment than luxury condos in Hong Kong?  
A single residential car park space costing US$665,000? Surely that’s madness, you might think? Well, welcome to Hong Kong.
Investors in the city have shown strange tendencies in owning a piece of property. With property prices touching record levels in recent months, investors have been turning their attention to car parks.
A record price of US$665,000 was paid for a single parking space in Upton residential complex car park, in Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun, close to the central business district (CBD), on Hong Kong Island in April.

For the same crazy amount, you can buy two decent sized homes in the United States or Britain, and still have some money left over.
Top five properties in London perfect for Hong Kong investors
This car-parking madness could intensify, as the city’s smart investors will continue to pay silly prices for spaces, property analysts say.
“They are a necessity for the apartment owners because they need car parks, and they can afford to pay high prices,” says David Ji, head of research and consultancy, Greater China, at international property consultancy Knight Frank.
However, not all Hongkongers are going car-parking mad just yet. The steep rise in property prices is also leading investors to put their money into another assets, according to a JLL analyst, who warns that the spaces’ value will not appreciate the same way as property prices.
Ji is in agreement, noting that rich investors would prefer to buy flats instead of parking spaces.
Even so, adventurous investors feel the sector’s frenzy. Research shows that there have been some spectacular increases in car park space values – notably in 2013, when the year-on-year value of 6,288 car park spaces sold in Hong Kong increased by 45 per cent, and 2011, when the year-on-year value of 7,738 car parks sold across the city increased by 42.3 per cent.

Who’d buy a car park space for HK$4.8 million? Someone on Conduit Road just did
However, so far this year, the price of car park spaces has been volatile. Data shows that in February their year-on-year value rose by 10.1 per cent, but in April the year-on-year value of car park spaces fell by 2.7 per cent.
With a limited local supply of car parks in Hong Kong investors are also looking overseas to invest, and in bulk buying rather than individual spaces, Ji says. According to CBRE in May, Australian property tycoon and horse-racing enthusiast Lloyd Williams sold a 16-storey car park in Melbourne’s CBD to a Hong Kong private company for about A$120 million (HK$737 million).

The vendor had reportedly doubled his investment on the Flinders Street car park he had owned for 10 years, with a yield of around 5 per cent expected for its 1,200 spaces, plus associated retail and office areas. The sale was brokered by agents from CBRE and Knight Frank.


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Asia-Pacific hotels a ‘most compelling’ investment amid travel growth, flat supply: CBRE

Hong Kong property

Do overpriced Hong Kong parking spaces make for smart investments?

Has Hong Kong’s property market gone car-parking mad? Yes, and prices are getting crazier, say property experts

Residential project Upton at 180 Connaught Road West, Shek Tong Tsui, Sai Ying Pun. 14JUN17 SCMP / Nora Tam

A single carpark at no.55 Conduit Road sold for 4.8million, a new record. 27OCT16 SCMP/Sam Tsang

(FILES) A file photo taken on April 2, 2010 shows Melbourne's Flinders Street Station which is the central railway station for the suburban rail network of Melbourne. A "significant" Islamic State-inspired Christmas Day terror plot targeting central Melbourne has been foiled after a series of arrests in raids across the city, police said on December 23, 2016. Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton alleged those detained planned to use explosives, knives and guns to attack busy locations including Melbourne's Flinders Street train station, Federation Square and St Paul's Cathedral. / AFP PHOTO / WILLIAM WEST

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Has Hong Kong’s property market gone car-parking mad? Yes, and prices are getting crazier, say property experts


Do overpriced Hong Kong parking spaces make for smart investments?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Has Hong Kong’s property market gone car-parking mad? Yes, and prices are getting crazier, say property experts

Has Hong Kong’s property market gone car-parking mad? Yes, and prices are getting crazier, say property experts