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Peggy Ye

A third-generation member of a long-established Hong Kong developer family has bought a HK$98.8 million (US$12.6 million) luxury flat in Mid-Levels, weeks after the family sold a long-held North Point property, highlighting a broader market trend of capital shifting across real estate sectors.
John Lai Sung-ziang agreed to buy a high-floor unit at Estoril Court on August 31, Land Registry records showed. The price for the four-bedroom flat, which has a saleable area of 2,888 square feet, translates to HK$34,211 per square foot.
According to Chinese media reports, Lai is part of the family behind Majestic Textiles and St Louis Land Investment, a property developer and owner.
The family had held North Point Terraces as a rental property for more than four decades before selling it to Chinachem for about HK$1.9 billion earlier this year.
Majestic Textiles and St Louis Land Investment could not be reached for comment.
Selling an older rental building and buying residential is not a negative view on property. It is an asset-allocation decision
Nicholas To, Savills Hong Kong
The transaction also offers a contrast to some families moving more decisively out of property. In a recent case, the next generation of a wealthy family sold their investment properties, redirected capital into financial assets for greater liquidity and returns, and chose to just rent instead.
While cautioning against reading too much into two transactions, Nicholas To, senior associate director of investment at Savills Hong Kong, said the Lai family move reflected a broader trend of investors shifting between property sectors.
“Selling an older rental building and buying residential is not a negative view on property,” To said. “It is an asset-allocation decision.”
Non-residential transactions worth more than HK$50 million totalled HK$30.36 billion so far this year, up 25 per cent from a year earlier, according to property consultancy Savills. Local capital accounted for more than 80 per cent of investment volume.
Some of that capital is moving into alternative uses. More buyers are acquiring hotels and offices for conversion into student accommodation or co-living, reflecting demand for income-producing assets tied to living uses.
Hotels accounted for HK$7.3 billion of non-residential transactions above HK$50 million this year, 69 per cent more than the full-year total in 2025, according to Savills.
For families that continue to own property, To said the next generation could increasingly assess each asset on its investment merits rather than its place in the family portfolio.
“Property now competes with other asset classes inside the same portfolio, and each asset is expected to justify itself on its own returns rather than on family history,” he said.
Family wealth could also become divided among branches over generations, making individual residential units more practical to own than entire buildings, To said.
Hong Kong’s residential market has performed differently from other property sectors.
Home prices rallied earlier this year, rising over 7 per cent in the first half, while office, retail and industrial capital values remained below year-earlier levels, according to government data.


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A Mid-Levels transaction comes on the heels of the family’s commercial divestment, tracking a wider reallocation across the city


A Mid-Levels transaction comes on the heels of the family’s commercial divestment, tracking a wider reallocation across the city.


Developer family’s deals highlight capital shift across Hong Kong property sectors

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A Mid-Levels transaction comes on the heels of the family’s commercial divestment, tracking a wider reallocation across the city

A Mid-Levels transaction comes on the heels of the family’s commercial divestment, tracking a wider reallocation across the city