Hong Kong property heir drops US$7.6 million on a luxury home in Repulse Bay: Douglas Woo, son of a billionaire and the sixth-richest person in the city, is set to boost the local property market

Mar 30 , 2023

Douglas Woo, chairman of Wheelock, bought a Repulse Bay flat in the midst of Hong Kong’s luxury property market picking up. Photos: K. Y. Cheng, Edmond So

Hong Kong property heir Douglas Woo bought a flat in an upscale area for US$7.6 million (HK$59.8 million) at a time when the city’s luxury market is just picking up as the border reopens.

Douglas Woo, chairman and managing director of Wheelock and Company Limited, attends Hong Kong Business Awards 2022 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, in December 2022. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

The chairman of Wheelock & Co., one of the city’s biggest property firms, bought the luxury home this month, according to a Land Registry filing.

Woo’s flat is in a 49-year-old development in Repulse Bay at the south end of Hong Kong Island favoured by the wealthy. The three-bedroom property has an area of around 1,600 sq ft, translating to around HK$38,000 per sq ft. The last transaction in the project was a lower-level home of the same size that sold for HK$60 million in 2020.

A Wheelock representative declined to comment.

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Peter Woo Kwong-ching and his son Douglas Woo Chun-kuen attend a press conference at the company’s AGM in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, in June 2013. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Woo paid a 4.25 per cent tax on the purchase, local newspaper Ming Pao reported, citing documents. A buyer that doesn’t already hold residential properties at the time of purchase qualifies as a first-time buyer. Otherwise, the tax rate for residents with existing home ownership is 15 per cent.

Woo’s father, Peter Woo, is Hong Kong’s sixth-richest person with a net worth of US$18 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Wheelock holds two listed property companies, The Wharf (Holdings) Ltd. and Wharf Real Estate Investment Co. The latter reported a 22 per cent decline in revenue in 2022 as tourism in the city halted.

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A general view of Mount Nicholson at 8 Mount Nicholson at The Peak, Hong Kong. Photo: Martin Chan

Wharf’s signature projects include Mount Nicholson, one of the city’s most coveted luxury developments that has broken price records. The family’s portfolio also includes Harbour City and Times Square shopping malls.

The purchase by a buyer as prominent as Woo will further boost sentiment in the market. Hong Kong’s upscale home market had been under pressure amid Covid-19 restrictions and rising interest rates for the past few years. The border reopening with mainland China has improved the outlook, on expectations that wealthy Chinese buyers will return.

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The interior of Mount Nicholson by Wheelock. Photo: Wheelock Properties

The value of luxury home transactions reached an eight-month high of HK$10 billion in January, according to Centaline Property Agency.

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Millionaires and billionaires

The Hong Kong-China border reopening has improved outlook of the city’s luxury property market, while the purchase of this Repulse Bay flat by Wheelock’s chairman will also boost sentiment
Woo’s father, Peter Woo, is the sixth-richest person in Hong Kong with a net worth of US$18 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, who made the bulk of his wealth from real estate