Several retail properties sold recently by prominent Hong Kong investors have been offloaded at a loss – a trend analysts attributed to banks maintaining a tough stance on debt collection.

Stanley Poon Chi-ming, managing director at Centaline Commercial, said retail property prices had fallen by 30 to 70 per cent from their 2018 peaks. That meant any sales in the current market – especially of properties bought around a decade ago – would essentially result in a loss.

“Many retail property owners are facing bank demands to cover mortgage shortfalls following property revaluations, forcing them to sell at low prices to raise cash and repay their loans,” he said. “Some are even facing financial distress and defaulting on their mortgage payments, leading banks to require them to sell their properties.”Veteran investor Yeung Fun-bun, the chairman of Kam Wah Holdings, recently sold a ground-floor shop at 250 Castle Peak Road, Cheung Sha Wan, for HK$22.8 million. The property has a gross floor area of about 1,596 square feet, translating to a price of about HK$14,286 per square foot, according to market sources.

Yeung listed the property for sale at HK$55 million last year, but it ultimately changed hands for HK$32.2 million less – a 58.5 per cent reduction. He bought the shop for HK$54 million in February 2018 and held it eight years, incurring a loss of HK$31.2 million or 57.8 per cent. The property is leased to the Ki’s Roasted Goose restaurant chain for HK$84,000 a month, offering the buyer a rental yield of 4.4 per cent.

Another veteran local investor, Choi Pak-nang, incurred a paper loss of HK$36 million on a ground-floor shop at 207A Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok, that he recently sold following 14 years of ownership, according to market sources. He sold the property, with a gross floor area of about 1,100 square feet, for HK$27 million, or HK$24,545 per square foot.

Some property owners who are pressed for cash have no choice but to sell at a lower priceStanley Poon, Centaline Commercial Choi bought the property for HK$63 million in November 2012 and sold it for 57 per cent less.

It is leased to an aquarium shop until 2028 at a monthly rent of HK$115,000, meaning the buyer is expected to achieve a yield of about 5.1 per cent.

Early this week, Shop A on the ground floor of the Yee Fat Building at 10-16 Portland Street, Yau Ma Tei – which is occupied by the Kung Fu Dim Sum snack shop chain – changed hands for HK$11 million, according to market sources. The sellers, Ma Tin-ming and Ma Tin-chung, founders of the BKT Group food and catering company, bought the property for HK$15 million in February 2014 and held it for 12 years, incurring a paper loss of HK$4 million or 26.7 per cent.

Centaline Commercial’s Poon said it was not a good time to sell shops, because prices were “so low”. “Some property owners who are pressed for cash have no choice but to sell at a lower price – such cases have become more frequent recently,” he said, adding that banks had not eased up on debt recovery efforts.

“It appears that banks have held off for a while, giving owners time to sell the properties themselves. However, sales may not have materialised; the only option left is to take possession and sell them as foreclosed properties.”