An unidentified buyer paid HK$132,000 ($22,923.54) per square foot for a luxury flat in Hong Kong’s exclusive Peak neighborhood, making it Asia’s most expensive apartment by area, according to property firm Knight Frank LLP.

The buyer shelled out more than HK$1.16 billion by tender yesterday for two adjacent apartments at No. 8 Mount Nicholson, said developer Wheelock Properties Ltd. The record was set by the smaller of the two.

Hong Kong’s property market is running red hot across land and commercial and residential buildings. Soaring home prices have put the city in bubble risk territory as local and foreign investors pile in, making a “mild correction” likely, according to the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index. Secondary residential prices have climbed 11 percent in the past 12 months according to Centaline Property Agency.

Mount Nicholson apartment.
(Credit: The Wharf (Holdings) Ltd.)

“For many high-net-worth individuals, Mount Nicholson is a way to invest,” said Thomas Lam, head of valuation and consultancy at Knight Frank.

Six other units at the development didn’t sell, because the tendered bids were too low, Wheelock said. The South China Morning Post earlier reported the record sale.

Earlier this month, a four-bedroom house at Mount Nicholson with a swimming pool, elevator, garden and unobstructed views of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbour sold for HK$1.16 billion, or HK$126,813 per square foot.

This story, written by Frederik Balfour for Bloomberg, first appeared on Nov 21.