Chinese Tycoon Loses Big on Property Fire Sale

Chen has liquidated his HK property at very cheap prices

Another Chinese tycoon has had a fire sale -- selling nine flats in Hong Kong at over half the price he bought them.

Chen Zhuolin is the chairman of distressed mainland Chinese developer Agile Group, and he recently sold all nine luxury units in Kowloon Tong for HK$90 million -- but they had a market value of HK$213 million. 

The flats in Hamburg Villa on Eastbourne Road were sold at between 53 percent and 63 percent of the original price.

Chen owned some units on Eastbourne Road

One is a three-bedroom unit, 872 sq ft and sold for a bargain basement price of HK$8 million on November 1; he had bought it for HK$21.4 million in 2018, a 63 percent discount.

The 62-year-old Chen is in a tight financial spot; he and his wife Luk Sin-fong, through a family trust, own 58 percent of Agile, but its shares have plunged more than 90 percent in the past five years.

Luk also has a place in Repulse Bay and used it as collateral to get loans. She was hoping to secure HK$500 million...

Agile itself also owns land on Eastbourne Road as well, paying about HK$3.3 billion for two lots in 2017.

But the company failed to pay interest on a US$483 million bond that matures in May 2025.

Other uber wealthy in financial straits: the family of Ho Shung-ping, and the family of the late retail magnate Tang Shing-bor.

On the one hand, it's comeuppance for these wealthy Chinese who snapped up Hong Kong properties at jaw-dropping prices several years ago, and now they are desperately trying to liquidate at fire sale prices. The buyer who snapped up the HK$8 million got a really good deal, though as property prices continue to fall, you don't want to be the last one holding the bag...