Places to live in HK

I have heard that Happy Valley and mid-level are traditionally the places people move to when they first get to Hong Kong. Is this true/ fair?


I am planning to move with my girlfriend and we would ideally like to move to a reasonably central and 'happening' part of time. To take my home town of London and the various districts as examples we would be far more likely to be seen around Shoreditch/ Hoxton/ Soho than we would around Kensington/ Chelsea etc. Anywhere that has a bit of a downtown feel I suppose, as long as it's safe and a convenient commute for offices on Harcourt Road (Central).


Thanks in advance!

Happy Valley would be convenient if you are working in Harcourt road and yes its true a lot of expats on packages tend to congregate in the same areas when they first get to Hong kong, and then if they prefer move further out or too the south side of the island if they can afford the rent. But the two places that you mentioned are both pretty close to the happening areas of central and Wanchai in terms of nightlife, though Midlevels depending on where you live is probably closer to central, and Wanchai is closer to Happy Valley. Harcourt Road to my understanding is a little east of central, its closer to Wanchai and Causewaybay rather than central. Correct me someone if I am wrong.

Happy Valley and mid levels are both good places, if you are working at harcourt road, mid levels will be a better choice just becuase of the shorter distance to central and all the bars and restaurants are in the closeby neighbourhood, when are you looking to move to HK? I own a flat in mid levels and perhaps could offer some help?

"I have heard that Happy Valley and mid-level are traditionally the places people move to when they first get to Hong Kong. Is this true/ fair?"


Not really true. That is, lots of people do move there, but by no means all.


As mentioned they are centrally located and close to the "happening" parts of town. There are also lots of modern housing developments there. However note that the air quality is not very good compared to many other locations. Also, HK Island is rather small so even if you live on South Side or Pok Fu Lam you are only 20 minutes away from the "happening" places.

sheung wan also close enough to town and a bit cheaper than mid levels. its a big area so ask for SW on central side.

"I live South side and believe me the air is just as bad as any where else in Hong Kong, and the fact that I live next to the ocean and can rearly see it is a constant reminder of how bad it is, in Happy Valley it is less visible so you are not reminded of it on a daily basis."


I don't agree. In my opinion the air on the South Side is far better. Not good, mind you, but better. Another advantage of the South Side is the beaches if you're into that kind of thing.


BTW a car helps but we don't have one and don't feel any particular need. Depends on where you live. We have plenty of bus lines, supermarket and other shops 8 minutes walk away, cheap taxis.


Having said all that, if we didn't have kids we would probably have ended up in upper Midlevels.

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. I think it's quite clear that I will need to look at both Happy Valley and Mid-level as they both seem to have their merits!


As for the offer of help serenayeung, well thanks alot. Not sure on timescales but I will probably be looking to move out around the start of July. Would this work?


Also, question for everyone, is there much merit in buying a place rather than renting? It seems like everyone rents but perhaps that is because the population base is relatively transient? Or are there any issues around property ownership (I have no idea how involved the Chinese political authorities are in day to day China)? Additionally, if there aren't any problems currently with property ownership, does anyone anticipate that this may become a problem in the future (again for reasons surrounding China's ownership of the city nowadays)?


Thanks

First of all divorce your thought process of Hong Kong being administered by china. It is self administered ( it is an SAR is Special Administrative Region) We use the basic law which is based on English common law, and the legal system is at an international standard including all the freedoms that you would be used to in the west which is guaranteed for at least another 40 years by the Peoples Republic of China and completely different from the legal system in China which is a lot more authoritarian.


A lot of expats don't buy property because as you say, they are here for a few years and it is not worth the process for them. Up till about three years back property prices were hemorrhaging and had done so for about 6 years straight. So even if you were committed to staying, though it would have been a smart thing to do, a lot of people were fearful of entering the market ( A lot of my friends did buy at that time and are sitting on fat profits). Prior to that Property prices had spiraled out of control for two decades, making decent property un-affordable at least prices were at levels where expats making a decent package were skeptical about investing. About three years ago the correction in prices ended, interest rates started coming down, and we have seen another boom. Prices and rents are going up in some cases out of control. Some say that prices have peaked and prices should moderate from here. Not sure what is happening. but the long and the short of it, is Hong Kong is a very small place. The Island itself is about the size of Zone One in London. with such a shortage of land, prices tend to spiral out of control when there is any kind of boom. Its not for the faint hearted entering the market, you can either do very well or you can get burned, there is so much speculation built into prices. so my advice to you would be buyer beware

Thanks DB. I think my query on China was more about whether as that 40 year time period gets shorter and shorter people think it would be likely to have a negative impact on property values. After all, why bother owning something when a system of ownership may be coming defunct in 40 years time? A bit like having a 40 year lease on a property if that were true, which isn't particularly appealing.


But what you say about everything else is very interesting, relevant and extremely clear, so thankyou. It is certainly something I will need to give alot of thought and consideration to.

"The Island itself is about the size of Zone One in London."


And it's even worse than that. Vast tracts are land are more or less unavailable for development due to the mountainous terrain.

stellarboy - if you are talking about Hoxton/Soho - just move to Mid-levels really. Mid-levels are great if you dont have kids (which I take it you dont) - you will love it - you can walk anyway in Soho (well HK Soho) - it really is great. I, like expatguy live on Southside and love it! It is like being on holidays in the weekends, beach is right next to us (amazing to me if you consider that we live in London in Clerkenwell)... But, if I did not have kids I would be in Mid'levels in a heartbeat.

I dont think that people are worrying about what will happen when the time period is up and therefore not buying property at all. First of all we were guaranteed fifty years of freedom or at least status quo under the joint declaration and then the basic law. I say forty years because its been ten since the handover. After that initial time period is up It is very hard to see China backtracking, changing laws and granting us less freedom then we are currently used to. Hong Kong is a premier financial center, perhaps the most important one in the Asia Pacific region. With so many mainland Chinese companies prefering to list in Hong Kong rather than New York, it would seriously be against China's national interest to replace the rule of law that we currently enjoy with one they concoted on their own, that did not respect individual property rights. The fact that Hong Kong boasts a legal and regulatory framework which is of world standard is critical to its continuing success as the regional financial hub. Any attempt by the mainland Chinese government to rewrite Hong Kongs mini consititution and its basic law to reflect the current system in China would be a step backwards for a start, and more importantly it would be disasterous for Hong Kong's capital markets, it would badly affect Chinese companies ability to raise capital from international investors and it would simply not be in China's interest to do so. So I really dont think anyone has anything to worry about once the fifty year period is up.


Besides, If China really wanted to make any changes to the make up of Hong Kong they would do so whenever they want, irrespective of whether they made any 50 year promises to the UK. As it so happens the have been very very good about not interfering with the affairs of Hong Kong and I dont see that changing even after the 50 year time period it up.