Prices in 5 housing estates still below 1997 peak

Prices in five of the housing estates most popular among investors in the 1990s are still below their peak values in 1997, although the average home price in Hong Kong is 23.8 per cent higher than at the top of the market 17 years ago.

The Centa-City Leading Index, created by Centaline Property Agency to monitor home prices in the secondary market, shows that five of the 18 estates monitored by the index since 1994 have yet to return to their peak in July 1997.

Prices at luxury estate Hong Kong Parkview in Tai Tam are still 1.1 per cent below those levels; and at Robinson Place in the Mid-Levels, they are 5.3 per cent short of the peak.

"Property speculation in those five estates was very serious in 1997. They were overpriced and are now suffering from the depreciation," said Wong Leung-sing, an associate director of research at Centaline.

"Hong Kong Parkview and Robinson Place were very popular in the 1990s. But more new luxury projects with better facilities have been developed over the last 17 years. Buyers have more choices now."

In contrast, Baguio Villa in Pok Fu Lam, City One Shatin in Sha Tin and Taikoo Shing in Quarry Bay have recorded the strongest growth in property prices.

Baguio Villa is a 39-year-old housing estate. But Wong said it was renovated a few years ago and is one of the few housing estates that offers large flats with a high efficiency ratio on Hong Kong Island. The flats range between 1,020 square feet and 2,700 sq ft in size.