Sister of former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa acquires $15M flat

The four-bedroom unit, measuring 3,349 square feet (311 square meters), at the Grenville House complex was bought by Noble Gather, a firm whose directors appear to include Shirley and her son William Peng, the South China Morning Post reported.

The flat was sold on Tuesday, according to Land Registry records. William is the chairman of Chinese Maritime Transport, a company that operates bulk carriers as well as inland container transportation and terminal services.

The sale price was about 8.5% lower than that of a similarly sized flat on a lower floor, which sold for HK$130 million in December, a transaction record from property agent Centaline shows. It was also 26% less than the HK$160 million Tung paid for another unit in the same building in 2021, local media reported.

Peng’s purchase places her among a growing number of affluent buyers capitalizing on steep price drops in Hong Kong’s luxury home market, which is grappling with one of its longest downturns.

Cantopop singer Gloria Tang, known professionally as G.E.M. and often nicknamed "China’s Taylor Swift," acquired two flats in Wan Chai district for HK$85 million in late March, a 35% discount from their peak price three years ago.

Sales of super-prime homes priced above $10 million in Hong Kong jumped by 380% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2024, according to property consultancy Knight Frank.

Lucia Leung, the firm’s director of research and consultancy for Greater China, noted that the surge "highlights a continued appetite for high-end homes among wealthy buyers, especially as confidence begins to stabilise."

"Despite the broader market slump, luxury property transactions have remained active in 2025," she said.

Still, prices have yet to catch up with the pickup in activity. A March report from Savills, another consultancy, noted that while transaction volume has improved, a glut of distressed listings has kept prices subdued.

Home prices in the city remain 29% below their 2021 peak, according to government data, and the number of households in negative equity rose to its highest level since 2003 by the end of March.