The well publicised sale of the world’s most overpriced expensive apartment raced around the media in late 2009. The developer, Henderson Land, has been quiet about the identity of the purchaser so how could we dig a bit deeper on this transaction to get more information?

Land search
As we’ve written about before, transactions are recorded in the Land Registry and are listed against the property they relate to. Our first stop is the Land Registry’s IRIS land search website to pay $10 for a land search on the unit.

After a brief search we can see the unit we are interested in:

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Swire Properties purchased Tai Sang Commercial Building for HKD$1.36bn in November of 2007 and given the proximity to Pacific Place 3 theres a chance this latest acquisition may be the future Pacific Place 4.

The building was previously owned by the mid-size Hong Kong bank, Tai Sang Bank. It is in fairly poor condition right now and as of late 2008 many office tenants have vacated the building. One might speculate that Swire did not seriously attempt to retain these tenants and may have some plans brewing for a new use for the building (or at least a substantial re-furbishment, otherwise known as “Mutton dressed as Lamb”).

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A Land Search is a necessity when thinking of buying or renting real estate in Hong Kong. A property search at the Land Registry in Hong Kong will cost you HK$10 for a current search and HK$25 for a current and historical search. The extra $15 is definitely worth it if you are serious about the property. It shows you the history of the property including the date it received an occupation permit, among other things.

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