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Business Times
11-08-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China EV maker XPeng's vice-chairman buys luxury HK$171 million Hong Kong home
[HONG KONG] The vice-chairman and co-president of electric vehicle (EV) maker XPeng bought a luxury home in Hong Kong, as the city's property market hovers around a nine-year low. Brian Gu and his wife, Wenisa Ma, last week spent HK$171 million (S$28 million) for a house in Hong Kong's Jardine's Lookout area, according to regulatory filings. The neighbourhood is known for attracting celebrities and billionaires, including property tycoon Joseph Lau. The new purchase adds to Gu's property portfolio in the Asia financial hub; he acquired a HK$60 million home in 2016 in the city's southern district, another area popular among the wealthy. A representative for XPeng declined to comment. Gu did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. Local media Hong Kong Economic Journal reported the transaction earlier. Hong Kong's residential property market stands at around September 2016 levels, according to the Centaline Property Centa-City Leading Index, a gauge for overall home prices in the city. Hong Kong recorded 56 sales for homes worth more than HK$100 million in the first half of 2025, representing a 29 per cent decline compared with the period a year ago. The total transaction amount plunged 43 per cent to about HK$11 billion, according to data from Centaline Property Agency. Gu, a former JPMorgan Chase banker, joined XPeng in 2018 after more than a decade at the Wall Street bank. He received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Washington in August 1997, and he has a master's degree in business administration from Yale University. He has three children with Ma, according to a biography page of Ma on the Museum of Chinese in America website. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
11-08-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Luxury HK$171 million Hong Kong home bought by XPeng's Brian Gu
[HONG KONG] The vice-chairman and co-president of electric vehicle maker XPeng bought a luxury home in Hong Kong, as the city's property market hovers around a nine-year low. Brian Gu and his wife Wenisa Ma last week spent HK$171 million (S$28 million) for a house in Hong Kong's Jardine's Lookout area, according to regulatory filings. The neighbourhood is known for attracting celebrities and billionaires, including property tycoon Joseph Lau. The new purchase adds to Gu's property portfolio in the Asia financial hub, where he acquired a HK$60 million home in 2016 in the city's southern district, another area popular among the wealthy. A representative for XPeng declined to comment. Gu did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Local media Hong Kong Economic Journal reported the transaction earlier. Hong Kong's residential property market stand around September 2016 levels, according to the Centaline Property Centa-City Leading Index, a gauge for overall home prices in the city. Hong Kong recorded 56 sales for homes worth more than HK$100 million in the first half of 2025, representing a 29 per cent decline compared with the period a year ago. The total transaction amount plunged 43 per cent to about HK$11 billion, according to data from Centaline Property Agency. Gu, a former JPMorgan Chase banker, joined XPeng in 2018 after more than a decade at the Wall Street bank. He received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Washington in August 1997, and he had a master's degree in business administration from Yale University. He has three children with Ma, according to a biography page of Ma on the Museum of Chinese in America website. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
New World prices Hong Kong luxury home project at record low
[HONG KONG] New World Development launched a luxury residential project on the south side of Hong Kong Island at a record low price as the embattled developer aims to accelerate property sales amid debt concerns. The firm priced the first batch of 101 apartments in its co-developed Deep Water Pavilia project at HK$20,932 (S$3,431.9) per square foot. The pricing marks the lowest of any new residential project in the city's posh southern district, according to Centaline Property Agency. New World, one of Hong Kong's top four developers and owned by the Cheng family, has pledged to speed up sales of its residential projects in Hong Kong as it struggles to service around HK$210.9 billion in liabilities. The group faces worsening pressure to repay loans if it can't strike a deal with banks to refinance HK$87.5 billion of its borrowings by the end of this month, Bloomberg reported earlier. The developer's turmoil highlights the broader troubles facing Hong Kong's property market. The city has been grappling with a sluggish economy and a shift in demographics that have weighed on home prices, which declined by about 29 per cent from their peak in 2021, according to data from Centaline. The number of households in negative equity, meaning their properties are worth less than the loans they took out for the purchase, is the highest since 2003 as of the end of March. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Hong Kong's top developer sells out homes in hours as rates fall
HONG KONG – Hong Kong's biggest property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd sold out the first batch of homes for a new project within hours, as the lowest mortgage rates in more than two years lured buyers. Sun Hung Kai sold all 160 units in the 1B phase of Sierra Sea, a residential development in the Ma On Shan area, according to Centaline Property Agency. A drop in interest rates is helping the city's residential sales, which saw an unprecedented downturn in the past few years. The one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate is hovering at 1.3 per cent, the lowest since August 2022. Sun Hung Kai may beat its HK$25 billion (S$4 billion) Hong Kong contracted sales target by 50 per cent in the fiscal year ending in June, as mortgage rates drop for new-home buyers, Bloomberg Intelligence said in a note this week. The city's effective mortgage rate linked to Hibor has dropped to 2.87 per cent, the lowest in more than two years, according to mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services. Falling interest rates are positive for property companies, JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts including Mr Karl Chan wrote in a note on May 7. They estimate an average 5 per cent earnings boost for every 100 basis point annualised decrease in financing costs from floating debt for the developers. Meanwhile, the chances of Hong Kong's residential property market bottoming out are growing on the back of cheaper interest rates, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Hong Kong home prices are 29 per cent below their peak in 2021, data from the government show. The number of households with negative equity – when the value of a property is less than the outstanding mortgage loan – rose to the highest since 2003 as of the end of March. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Hong Kong's top developer sells out homes in hours as rates fall
[HONG KONG] Hong Kong's biggest property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties sold out the first batch of homes for a new project within hours, as the lowest mortgage rates in more than two years lured buyers. Sun Hung Kai sold all 160 units in the 1B phase of Sierra Sea, a residential development in the Ma On Shan area, according to Centaline Property Agency. A drop in interest rates is helping the city's residential sales, which saw an unprecedented downturn in the past few years. The one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate is hovering at 1.3 per cent, the lowest since August 2022. Sun Hung Kai may beat its HK$25 billion (S$4.2 billion) Hong Kong contracted sales target by 50 per cent in the fiscal year ending in June, as mortgage rates drop for new-home buyers, Bloomberg Intelligence said in a note this week. The city's effective mortgage rate linked to Hibor has dropped to 2.87 per cent, the lowest in more than two years, according to mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services. Falling interest rates are positive for property companies, JPMorgan Chase analysts including Karl Chan wrote in a note on May 7. They estimate an average 5 per cent earnings boost for every 100 basis point annualised decrease in financing costs from floating debt for the developers. Meanwhile, the chances of Hong Kong's residential property market bottoming out are growing on the back of cheaper interest rates, according to Jefferies Financial Group. Hong Kong home prices are 29 per cent below their peak in 2021, data from the government show. The number of households with negative equity – when the value of a property is less than the outstanding mortgage loan – rose to the highest since 2003 as at the end of March. BLOOMBERG
