Hong Kong officials said yesterday they would look into the controversial sale of a luxury apartment that fell through months after its developer said it had snatched a world-record price.
Property giant Henderson Land Development (恆基地產) said on Tuesday that sales of as many as 20 out of the 24 units at “39 Conduit Road,” its residential project in the Mid-Levels district, had been canceled. The scrapped deals included what was supposed to be the world’s most expensive apartment, a 572m² duplex that Henderson said in October was sold for US$56.6 million.
Critics demanded a probe into the collapse and asked why the cancelations only came to light eight months after the announcement of the sales, which helped hike prices of the city’s luxury residential apartments and stoked concerns about a property bubble.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
A government spokesman said yesterday it would look into the matter “to consider the next step.”
“Clear market information and transparent sales arrangements and transaction records are important to flat buyers,” it said. “The government is determined to create a fairer and a more transparent environment for flat purchasers.”
Henderson chairman Lee Shau-kee (李兆基) told reporters he was not bothered by the scrapped deals, which amounted to HK$734 million (US$94 million).
“I may be able to sell them for more,” the South China Morning Post quoted him as saying.
Lee also said he could not cut the prices of the apartments.
Henderson has also been condemned for being unscrupulous and misleading by selectively numbering the floors on the 46-story building as a ploy to attract Chinese buyers.
The supposed 68th floor duplex that snatched world-record price was actually on the 43rd and 44th floors, reports said. However, it was numbered “68” because “68” sounds like “continuing fortune” in Chinese and is considered lucky.
“The government should do much more to rein in the developers and stop them from deploying questionable tactics to boost sales,” said Legislative Council member Albert Ho (何俊仁), chairman of Democratic Party.
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