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Chinese culture
Lifestyle

Would you live in a ‘haunted’ Hong Kong flat, where someone died an unnatural death?

  • Selling a home in Hong Kong can be tricky if someone has died an unnatural death there, but this is no issue for the ‘king of haunted flats’

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A view of the supposedly haunted Dragon Lodge on The Peak in Hong Kong. The stigma attached to living in a place where an unnatural death occurred makes it hard to rent or sell them, although deep discounts can work. Photo: Martin Chan
Lindsay Feng
Learn the ins and outs of feng shui, villain hitting, and fortunetelling as well as the dos and don’ts for cultivating good luck in our series on Chinese superstitions.
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In the high-stakes Hong Kong real estate market, where every square foot is coveted, a peculiar subset of properties defies the norm – “haunted” flats, or hongza.

These homes are often shunned because of the belief that the lingering spirits of those who died an unnatural death in them – by murder, suicide, or an accident – will bring misfortune to the next residents.

The cultural aversion to living in such a place is so ingrained that even cheaper rent or a lower selling price can fail to entice people.

For Joseph Ng Goon-lau, dubbed the “king of haunted flats”, these stigmatised properties represent a lucrative investment.

Joseph Ng Goon-lau, who buys and sells dozens of properties linked to unnatural deaths, in one of his flats in Mong Kok. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Joseph Ng Goon-lau, who buys and sells dozens of properties linked to unnatural deaths, in one of his flats in Mong Kok. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Ng has mastered the art of buying and selling homes where unnatural deaths have occurred, and he offers a rare glimpse into a market shaped as much by fear as it is by opportunity.

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