Mid-levels they ain't

摘要

If property prices are a guide, Hong Kong is the most desirable place on Earth. Office rents, at some $160 per square foot a year, are now the world's highest. New homes are also the dearest: one estimate puts prices 55% above those in London. The luxury real-estate arm of Christie's, a British auction house, has just opened its first Asian outpost in the city. That is a bold move. Prices have surged by some 50% since early 2009, returning them to the level seen before Hong Kong's last property crash in the late 1990s (see chart). Is history about to repeat itself?