Hong Kong apartment sells for $57 million

updated 9:30 a.m. ET Oct. 14, 2009

HONG KONG - It's a price tag that would make even New Yorkers and Londoners gasp — an outsized luxury apartment sold for nearly $57 million in Hong Kong Wednesday amid growing fears of a real estate bubble.

The five-bedroom duplex suite with as much as 6,158 square feet was sold to an unidentified buyer from mainland China, said the developer, Henderson Land Development, a major Hong Kong property company. It is believed to be Asia's most expensive property by square foot at nearly $9,200.

Aside from an aroma spa center, fitness room, outdoor yoga gym and grand harbor views, the new homeowner will enjoy an exclusive address in the hills of Hong Kong's main island — "a majestic realm for the city who's who," according to a statement from the developer.

The deal comes at time when ever-higher prices of Hong Kong real estate, benefiting from mainland China's booming market and easy money sloshing through the world financial system, are inspiring worries of a bubble in the making. Several blockbuster deals in the tens of millions of dollars have made headlines of late.

Hong Kong's leader, Donald Tsang, said Wednesday in his annual policy address that the government may free up more land for development to help add supply and bring down prices.

"The relatively small number of residential units completed and the record prices attained in certain transactions this year have caused concern about the supply of flats, difficulty in purchasing a home, and the possibility of a property bubble," Tsang told lawmakers.

The city has long had one of the world's most expensive property markets, with prices that many local residents are hard pressed to afford. About 47 percent of Hong Kong lives in publicly subsidized housing, according to government data.

At 39 Conduit Road, the name and site of the building where the high-end apartment was purchased, another unit was snapped up for a mere $51 million.

The building "offers a chance to allow the elites in town to enjoy such prestigious property," said Thomas Lam, Henderson's sales general manager.

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