Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

I took a few photos of the new Park Island Villas on Ma Wan yesterday. As I wrote earlier, it seems they are being spruced up for promotional launch. An agent I spoke to today told me he has heard they will be priced at 22,000 to 25,000 per square foot. Apparently they will also be given a special name. Ie, not Phase 6 Park Island, but something more prestegious sounding such as Ocean Villas, for example. Park Island Phase 6 Villas Meanwhile, it seems Park Island property prices again hit a new high, although transaction volume remains low. See below the latest price trend graph from Centerline. Centerline price graph

I have noticed substantial activity at the new villas. Teams of gardeners planting flowers, cranes being used to deliver and plant trees. The building next to the villas has had an artificial lawn added on the rooftop (they should have done it with real grass!). So, it seems they are getting ready and sprucing things up for a sales launch. My guess now is it will start being prompoted for sale around Chinese New Year in 2012. Interesting how the extended taxi times happened to be nicely approved just recently. Time will tell what is planned for the structure right next to the villas. To me it still looks very much like a car park, and a while back I saw a whole bunch of Government official types inspecting that structure, measuring, taking photos, looking at building plans, etc.

The Chinese Park Island chat-site www.parkisland.no-ip.org has had Park Island residents speculating as to whether the new phase of luxury villas will come with private parking. The rumor and speculation is that Sun Hung Kai is holding off selling the villas until its application for car parks is approved. And that process in turn is apparently being held up by a powerful former Ma Wan village chief, who still has influence over such matters. Below is a picture of the new villas, and one can quite clearly see how car parking would be feasible, with direct road access to the villas. The discussion on the abovementioned Park Island chat site is speculating that prices for the villas would be significantly higher if/when parking is granted, and that Sun Hung Kai stands to make significantly more if they can sell the villas with such facilities, hence the delay in starting sales. In the Chinese website, there seems to be overwhelming support for limited parking, with most residents re