HONG KONG MEGAMANSION HITS THE MARKET FOR HK$2.2 BILLION, THE CITY’S PRICIEST LISTING

A Hong Kong megamansion with views of Repulse Bay has hit the market for a whopping HK$2.2 billion (about US$281.1 million), making it the city’s priciest listing.

The residence is also among the most expensive homes on the market in the world, pricier than the $250 million penthouse at Central Park Tower in New York City, currently the U.S.’s most expensive publicly listed property. In addition, earlier this year, a new mansion in an exclusive Hong Kong neighbourhood known as The Peak reportedly sold for HK$1.2 billion from a mainland Chinese buyer, Mansion Global reported.

The more than 18,000-square-foot residence was completed in 2019, but protests in the city and the Covid-19 pandemic kept the developer from listing the home. Now that they are ready to sell, however, property prices are cooling, according to Victoria Allan, managing director at Habitat Property, which listed the property last week.

“2022 was a rough year in Hong Kong,” Allan said, noting the city shutdowns. “Now that the city is open again, Hong Kong Chinese and mainland Chinese are actively buying for self use. As prices soften, we expect activity to increase as buyers [secure] property for self use at reduced prices.”

For the seller, that may mean being negotiable to a lower price, she noted. Still, the sheer size of the house, its proximity to the water and its location in the tony Repulse Bay neighborhood is likely to attract buyers who are finally able to return to Hong Kong, Allan said. In addition, high-end real estate is very limited in supply because of the island city’s limited building space, she added.

The residence features oversized black casement windows and marble floors and bathrooms, listing photos show. An imperial staircase leads to the main level that has an open layout, and there’s also an elevator.

With 11 bedrooms and eight bathrooms, the house is “ideal for families,” the listing said. There are several outdoor areas, including a roof deck with water views and a lap pool surrounded by a lounging area.

The underlying property was previously occupied by an apartment building, and was purchased by local property firm First Group Holdings in 2014 for HK$350 million, The Business Times reported, citing government data. Representatives from the developer were not available for comment.

Despite falling home prices, Hong Kong’s strict lending requirements have protected the market from the effects of rising interest rates and property owners from being over leveraged, Allan said. “This has helped keep the market more stable, and rising rates have not had as much of an impact on values as other global markets.”

The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.

Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”

Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.

The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.

But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.

Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.

“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”

Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.

Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”

Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.

Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.