Hong Kong - A five-bedroom luxury duplex in Hong Kong has set a new world record after selling for 56.6 million US dollars, news reports said Thursday. The price, which works out at almost 99,000 dollars per square metre, is believed to have been paid by a mainland businessman, said a report in the South China Morning Post.
It breaks the world record for split-level properties previously held by One Hyde Park in London and has been taken as an indication that the slump in property prices caused by the global recession is over.
The property is on the 68th floor of a luxury development by Henderson Land in the city's upmarket Mid-levels area.
Henderson Land salesman Thomas Lam said the price per metre was calculated on gross floor area, which included common areas.
However, Lam said if you calculate on saleable space - the actual space inside the flat - the price per square metre is 122,225 dollars which is higher than the 103,184 dollars per square metre paid for the previous record-holder at One Hyde Park, London.
But the record may not remain unbroken for long with two duplexes on the top floor of the same development on sale with an asking price of 130,000 dollars per square metre.
Luxury property prices have surged in Hong Kong in recent years because of the shortage of supply but dipped early this year by as much as 30 per cent as the economic crisis hit.
However, prices have rallied strongly in recent months as share prices have soared and the city's economy has shown signs of emerging quickly from the global recession.
Earlier this month, a tiny one-bedroom flat measuring 75.8 square metres in a luxury development sold for a record 3.16 million US dollars.
