In yesterdays Wall Street Journal, there was an article about how the 'young' people of HK can't afford to purchase a property without the help of their parents. We are talking about local HK residents. For those contemplating coming to HK, remember you will be discriminated against for the first 7 years, having to pay a purchase tax of almost 20% of the purchase price up front to the government. That is before any downpayments on the property itself. One example in the article was a buyer purchasing a 173 sq ft (yes, 173...) apartment for $3.79 million HKD. That is $488000 usd. For a 173 sq ft. Your upfront tax payment to the Govt would be approx. $97000 usd, then you would need to come up with another $97000 usd for a downpayment. That is before any other expense (furniture/legal). Then you get to settle down (with wife/children) in 173 sq ft. And CX management think that is about all you and your family should expect as a standard of living. Enjoy
