in Hong Kong, ever more dizzying prices

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It’s a very small area with skyscrapers stuck together. Hong Kong has 7,000 people per square kilometer, one of the highest densities in the world. A France Télévisions team is meeting on the 39th floor, with a Chinese family. It is a family apartment, seemingly classic, with several bedrooms. Jerry Yang lives alone with his mother. His father, a wealthy industrialist, lives in China. The surface measures 200 square meters. In this chic neighborhood, you can see Victoria Bay in the distance. The view is striking. “There, it’s the business district. This apartment costs between 13 and 14 million euros”, believes Jerry Yang.

Mainland Chinese, who are rushing into real estate in Hong Kong, now represent nearly 40% of the clientele. Sometimes the prices are dizzying, like a new house that has a huge living room and an outdoor barbecue area. “The house measures 380 square meters and price-wise, we are at 28 million euros”explains Monica Tse, real estate agent for Okay.com in Hong Kong. The house has its private elevator, several bathrooms and bedrooms on each floor.

A house designed for Chinese customers with a surprising example: the size of the kitchen. “The kitchen is not big because the Chinese will have their home cook with them. So as long as there is the essential equipment, it is enough,” explains the real estate agent.

Far from luxury, there is another reality: huge blocks of buildings, often poorly maintained. Everywhere, housing is piled up, like houses literally placed on the roof of a public parking lot. Fung Wong, mother, was accompanied that day by a social worker. She lives in 7 square meters. “This is my home. It’s the size of a small bathroom“, she describes.

She lives here with her son: “Behind me are the bunk beds. He sleeps on top and I sleep on the bottom.” Fung Wong pays almost 500 euros per month, charges included. She does not work, receives family allowances and tries to organize herself as best she can in this small space. “Usually I pull up a stool to watch TV with my son. He is sitting on the bed”, she explains.

Previously, the apartment was bigger. The owner, a slum dealer, divided it into three lots, a very common practice in Hong Kong. “Here, on this landing, there are at least three or four accommodations like mine“, assures Fung Wong. “In Hong Kong, there are, like her, around 250,000 people affected“, explains Chrystal Wong, the social worker. The government wants to increase the number of social housing. In Hong Kong, the price of real estate continues to increase: more than 6% in 2025.