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Spent time in HK with a well-off RE developer. Played tennis at LRC, etc. and was able to understand the city better. Basically everything below mid-level is t

Spent time in HK with a well-off RE developer. Played tennis at LRC, etc. and was able to understand the city better. Basically everything below mid-level is these conditions. For average in mid-level it's like $15m USD. Condos at the Peak are selling for $120m. The similar thing to this photographer I witnessed is all the helpers that live on balconies of whom they help. For like $300 a month. They're grateful for having a decent place to live unlike the photos but still no way to live..

scandox 9y ago
Sorry this isn't clear to me. Are you saying every dwelling that costs less than 15 million US Dollars has conditions like the ones in these photographs? Or do you mean that all such dwellings are broken up into these type of divisions? Additionally do you mean that people rent their servants balconies for $300 per month? As a kind of servant's quarters?
- ximeng 9y ago
  Minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers is around 550 usd per month. They legally need to live with you and you also need to provide them with food. They are allowed one rest day per week and employer must pay for initial travel to and from HK. They should have reasonable comfort and privacy, although in practice many don't get this, hence stories of helpers sleeping in bathrooms or balconies.
- Hasknewbie 9y ago
  'Mid-Level' is a small upscale neighbourhood on HK island. So the housing market there is not representative of the rest of HK. However said rest of HK remains way too expensive, something on the order of London or NY, but HK being a city-state people don't have the option of moving to or coming from a significantly less expensive countryside region. There is no self-selection as in most other major cities and many people are stuck with low/median income in high-rent zones. What's more as another poster pointed out most of HK is not constructible (there is a reason for all those skyscrapers), and the administration is kind of slow at repurposing/reclassifying existing land, plus they sort of gave up on building enough social housing (I'd say about a decade ago?) which was key for relieving pressure. I think the numbers given were RE-brag, the most expensive apartments in HK were sold for around USD50M each, so 15M for a Mid-level and 120M for The Peak seems off. The 'servant' he's referring to are Oversea Worker housemaids, who have a different status than immigrants, and he's right that they're not having an easy life (USD300 is I think their average monthly wage?). By law they must be live-in, but said law is rather light on specifics and protections, so many do not have an individual room and sleep in their employer's living room. "Sleeping on the balcony" is quite harsh and rare (who in HK has a balcony anyway?) but it can happen -- again, very little legal protection. According to local NGOs dealing with OW, at least 10% are abused one way or another.
  - ximeng 9y ago
    USD 550 is minimum wage, 300 is a random number. 15MM HKD up to 120MM HKD is more realistic for what you pay in mid levels / the peak, i.e. his numbers are off by a factor of 8...
    - Hasknewbie 9y ago
      Thanks for the correction, I didn't know the real number. Regarding the RE numbers, it looks a lot like a USD/HKD conversion blunder then ("Wait, 120 millions in dollars? That's huge." "Yeah mate, in dollars (lobs ball)." ).
ulfw 9y ago
Maybe you should have played less tennis and schmooze with the well off RE developers and actually looked at how normal people live. It's not just 15MM USD Mid-Levels condos and EVERYTHING else is a coffin cubicle. That is preposterous.
hellofunk 9y ago
> Basically everything below mid-level is these conditions. Hyperbole.
GordonS 9y ago
> Basically everything below mid-level is these conditions. For average in mid-level it's like $15m I've spent some time in HK, and this really is just completely and utterly false.
CptMouse 9y ago
Some context for his/her aberrations: https://www.instagram.com/taylorgood/ https://www.instagram.com/taylorgood/

scandox 9y ago

Sorry this isn't clear to me. Are you saying every dwelling that costs less than 15 million US Dollars has conditions like the ones in these photographs? Or do you mean that all such dwellings are broken up into these type of divisions? Additionally do you mean that people rent their servants balconies for $300 per month? As a kind of servant's quarters?

ximeng 9y ago
Minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers is around 550 usd per month. They legally need to live with you and you also need to provide them with food. They are allowed one rest day per week and employer must pay for initial travel to and from HK. They should have reasonable comfort and privacy, although in practice many don't get this, hence stories of helpers sleeping in bathrooms or balconies.
Hasknewbie 9y ago
'Mid-Level' is a small upscale neighbourhood on HK island. So the housing market there is not representative of the rest of HK. However said rest of HK remains way too expensive, something on the order of London or NY, but HK being a city-state people don't have the option of moving to or coming from a significantly less expensive countryside region. There is no self-selection as in most other major cities and many people are stuck with low/median income in high-rent zones. What's more as another poster pointed out most of HK is not constructible (there is a reason for all those skyscrapers), and the administration is kind of slow at repurposing/reclassifying existing land, plus they sort of gave up on building enough social housing (I'd say about a decade ago?) which was key for relieving pressure. I think the numbers given were RE-brag, the most expensive apartments in HK were sold for around USD50M each, so 15M for a Mid-level and 120M for The Peak seems off. The 'servant' he's referring to are Oversea Worker housemaids, who have a different status than immigrants, and he's right that they're not having an easy life (USD300 is I think their average monthly wage?). By law they must be live-in, but said law is rather light on specifics and protections, so many do not have an individual room and sleep in their employer's living room. "Sleeping on the balcony" is quite harsh and rare (who in HK has a balcony anyway?) but it can happen -- again, very little legal protection. According to local NGOs dealing with OW, at least 10% are abused one way or another.
- ximeng 9y ago
  USD 550 is minimum wage, 300 is a random number. 15MM HKD up to 120MM HKD is more realistic for what you pay in mid levels / the peak, i.e. his numbers are off by a factor of 8...
  - Hasknewbie 9y ago
    Thanks for the correction, I didn't know the real number. Regarding the RE numbers, it looks a lot like a USD/HKD conversion blunder then ("Wait, 120 millions in dollars? That's huge." "Yeah mate, in dollars (lobs ball)." ).

ulfw 9y ago

Maybe you should have played less tennis and schmooze with the well off RE developers and actually looked at how normal people live. It's not just 15MM USD Mid-Levels condos and EVERYTHING else is a coffin cubicle. That is preposterous.

hellofunk 9y ago

> Basically everything below mid-level is these conditions. Hyperbole.

GordonS 9y ago

> Basically everything below mid-level is these conditions. For average in mid-level it's like $15m I've spent some time in HK, and this really is just completely and utterly false.

CptMouse 9y ago

Some context for his/her aberrations: https://www.instagram.com/taylorgood/ https://www.instagram.com/taylorgood/