Buying Property in Hong Kong

Foreigners can easily buy properties like condominiums in Hong Kong and even rent them out. There is no restriction over these. However, Hong Kong does not allow Albanians, Afghans, North Koreans, Cubans and Chinese from the Mainland to purchase freely. They are allowed only if they are permanent residents of some other country. Where land is concerned, St. John’s Cathedral is the only freehold property and all the other land belongs to the government.

Land tenure is available on a renewable leasehold basis. The land leases currently are being granted for a period of 50 years.

Once a buyer settles on a property, he /she appoints a solicitor who conducts land search of the property to ensure no claims remain on it. Once this is verified, the buyer’s solicitor registers the signed and stamped Agreement of Sale and Purchase at the private practitioner’s office. At this time the buyer has to make a down payment of 10% of the total property value. The process offers a 30-day window to the buyer to make the arrangements of the final payment and also to verify the title deeds of the said property. The next step involves the preparation and signing of the property assignment which is signed by both the buyer and the seller. This property assignment is prepared by the buyer’s attorney.

In the mean time the original Assignment of Sale and Purchase agreement is received, duly stamped and signed from the Stamp Office. The last step involves the stamped document of assignment to be presented to the land registry. This is done within 30 days from the date of assignment. The deed is considered legally transferred at this step, however, the registered office may take up to 3 months to input the document information in the database. The remainder of the payment is done at this stage.