Peek inside this US$281 million Hong Kong mansion, up for sale: the 11-bedroom, 8-bathroom family home in Repulse Bay spans a whopping 18,270 sq ft, with both beach and mountain views

The site, previously occupied by a five-story block of flats, was bought by local property firm First Group Holdings in 2014 for HK$350 million before being redeveloped, according to government data.

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“The pricing is high amid current market conditions being soft,” said Victoria Allan, founder of Habitat Property, which is one of the agents for the house. Any mainland buyer would likely need to live in the city due to the difficulty of moving cash out of China, she said.

Still, the house is one of a kind and will find an owner over time, with its premium due to the property’s rare size and prime location, she said.

The situation has changed a lot since. China’s crackdowns on private enterprises, tougher scrutiny on capital leaving the mainland and an economic slowdown have meant Chinese money is no longer pouring into Hong Kong’s property market.

Instead, supply is increasing amid forced sales, with a wave of homes seized from embattled mainland property tycoons entering the market. Rising interest rates are also making loans more costly.

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Used home prices have fallen 13 per cent from their 2021 peak and are now at levels first seen at the beginning of 2018, according to the property agency Centaline.

The area first became famous after the grand Repulse Bay Hotel was opened by the Kadoorie family in 1920. (The hotel was knocked down in 1982.) Repulse Bay is now a well-off area of mostly high- and low-rise flat blocks built on slopes above one of the city’s most popular beaches, and is just a 20-minute drive from the financial district.

This year, Wheelock and Co. chairman Douglas Woo bought a three-bedroom flat in the area for about HK$60 million, while Jean Eric Salata, CEO of Baring Private Equity Asia, reportedly bought a six-house development on Deep Water Bay Road for HK$3.6 billion.