As Hong Kong’s richest saw their fortunes increase over the last 12 months, renewed financial vim is creating liquidity across Hong Kong’s thawing prime and super prime residential markets, with stronger pricing resilience at the very top.
As the city celebrates the Year of the Horse, could a slow trot of luxury property transactions in recent years gallop into 2026?
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At a glance
- The start of the year certainly looks auspicious. In January 2026, a four-bedroom duplex unit at The Legacy sold for a record-breaking HK$880m – the highest ever price of a single residential unit in Hong Kong, sounding the knell for Hong Kong’s luxury residential market’s recovery as the city celebrates Chinese New Year.
- The collective net worth of tycoons on the 2026 Forbes list of Hong Kong’s 50 Richest jumped 22% to an all-time high of US $366 billion from $301 billion last year.
- Topping the annual list is Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-shing, founder of the Cheung Kong Group, who maintained his position as Hong Kong’s richest person with an estimated wealth of approximately $45.1 billion – adding $7.8 billion to his fortune over the 12 months.
- A slow resuscitation of Hong Kong’s luxury real estate sector alongside a raft of IPAs contributed to Hong Kong being one of Asia’s top-performing stock markets in 2026.
- Developers in Hong Kong were buoyed by good things to come as the city’s wealthiest went on a shopping spree for luxury homes, marking the SAR’s return as a billionaire hotspot the world’s wealthy want to live in, behind Dubai.
- 26 ultra-luxury home transactions in the last quarter of the year were recorded, more than double the 13 transactions logged in December the previous year as affluent homebuyers and investors aggressively snapped up trophy assets in anticipation of a 2026 market rebound.
A slow resuscitation of Hong Kong’s luxury real estate sector alongside a raft of IPAs contributed to Hong Kong being one of Asia’s top-performing stock markets in 2026, with the benchmark Hang Seng index rallying nearly 30% since fortunes were last measured.
The Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) winning streak contributed to a jump in the collective net worth of Hong Kong’s 50 richest tycoons, which swelled by 22% to an all-time high of $366 billion from $301 billion last year, according to *fresh data from business magazine Forbes.
Hong Kong’s richest citizens in 2026
Topping the annual list is Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-shing, founder of the Cheung Kong Group, who maintained his position as Hong Kong’s richest person with an estimated wealth of approximately $45.1 billion, having added $7.8 billion to his fortune over the 12-month period.
Shares of his CK Hutchison Holdings were up more than 60% from a year ago, making the 97-year-old the world’s 40th richest billionaire.
Another 35 of Hong Kong’s wealthiest boosted their net worth since last year’s roundup, with Ka-shing tailed by brothers Peter and Martin Lee, co-chairmen of Hong Kong and mainland China property development heavyweight Henderson Land Development.
They are second-richest citizens gracing Forbes magazine’s front cover as the poster boys of Hong Kong’s resilience.
Henderson Land’s shares were up more than 40% with the development firm hitting headlines earlier in the year with the record-breaking HK$880 million (£88 million) sale of a four-bedroom duplex unit at The Legacy, marking the highest ever price of a single residential unit in Hong Kong.
The ultra-prime residential project in Mid-Levels West was jointly developed by Henderson Land Development and New World Development, achieving approximately 44% higher than the HK$609 million (£60.9 million) paid for a penthouse at Mount Nicholson Phase II, previously dubbed Asia’s most expensive home on one of the world’s most richest roads.
Henderson Land Development is entering a purple patch, bolstered further by the acquisition of a prime plot along Victoria Harbour for $6.5 billion, where they are building Central Yards.
The ‘city-within-a-city’ mega-development that is being positioned as long-term regeneration anchor and prime large-scale waterfront scheme.
Phase 1 of the ‘landscraper’ is slated to launch in 2027, creating a sustainable mixed-use development spanning over 700,000 square feet of premium office space, supported by biophilic design.
Cultural and lifestyle elements include a sky garden, retail space, dining, a Broadway-quality theatre and green public spaces.
Also linked to the SAR’s property sector is jewellery and real estate development tycoon Henry Cheng, the billionaire owner of Knight Dragon, a London-based property developer, and director of Hong-Kong listed New World Development.
Cheng ranked Hong Kong’s third-richest person in 2026, amassing a fortune of $26.1 billion. His wealth grew by $6.6 billion to $26.1 billion, as his Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group’s stock nearly doubled on soaring gold prices.
New World Development also sold over 2,200 units last year, generating over HK$34.8 million and marking a five-year high, with plans to expand operations in Jordan this year in a development winning streak.
Despite financial concerns, the company remains one of Hong Kong’s most prolific property developers and masterminds behind some of the SAR’s ultra-prime residential developments, including The Pavilia Rainforest in Kai Tak and Deep Water Pavilia, which recorded record sales last year.
This month, the developer announced “Pavilia Rosa” – a low-rise luxury residential project on Rose Street in Kowloon Tong, with about 100 units to be sold by tender. Joining the Pavilia portfolio later this year is Pavilia Farm III in Tai Wai.
Three billionaires also linked to real estate are among Hong Kong’s top ten richest in 2026. Ranking fifth is Kwong Siu-hing, worth $17.5 billion, and Hong Kong’s wealthiest woman.
The matriarch of the Kwok family is the single most important figure in the dynasty, which owns Sun Hung Kai, Hong Kong’s largest property developer.
Signature Homes is the group’s luxury residential leasing arm. It counts some of the city’s uber-luxury residential developments in its property portfolios.
Totalling over two million square feet, the inventory includes high-end homes in prime areas such as Central, Mid-Levels, Island South and the Peak. Among its premium property portfolio are Dynasty Court, The Royal Tower and Pacific View.
Ranking sixth and seventh on the list are Peter Woo, worth $14.9 billion, the former chairman of property developer Wheelock & Co. and its main subsidiary, Wharf Holdings and billionaire property mogul Joseph Lau, former chairman of property developer Chinese Estates, valued at $14.3 billion.
Wheelock and Co. are behind some of Hong Kong’s ultra-prime real estate, with ‘The Peak’ collection comprising the apex of Hong Kong living in addresses such as 1 Plantation Road and Mount Nicholson.
Lau, an avid art collector and a holder of one of the largest portfolios of trophy assets and prime real estate in Hong Kong, reportedly put his London giga-mansion on Belgravia’s Eaton Square up for sale in 2024 for a £90 million (US $117 million), just £20 million less that one of London’s most expensive listings in the same square a year later.
Lau’s property transactions have hit headlines in recent weeks, with the magnate’s son reportedly selling his Mid-Levels ultra-prime apartment at The Albany for US$12.8 million.
The transaction matters in a historically cooled market because of its profit-earning, suggesting a more confident stance on pricing as sentiment improves in a market where sellers have been forced to take losses.
The five Lee siblings, Charlie, Sammy, Eddy, David and Elizabeth, ranked Hong Kong’s fourth-richest billionaires, weighing in at a combined fortune of $17.6 billion.
The siblings oversee the Lee Kum Kee Group, the world’s largest maker of oyster sauce, alongside healthcare, property and venture capital businesses.
In 2017, the family expanded into Europe with the $1.7 billion acquisition of the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ skyscraper in London.
Buyer sentiment returns as coffers swell
As Hong Kong’s richest grew richer, Hong Kong’s luxury property market is cautiously on the up, with data from global realtor Knight Frank highlighting a recovery that is seeing the top-end of the segment trading again.
Hong Kong’s ultra-luxury housing market rose to second place globally behind Dubai – a city enjoying a multi-year run of wealth migration and super-prime and branded new build delivery – in the last quarter of 2025, with the SAR recording the second-highest number of luxury residential property deals among 12 super-prime markets worldwide.
According to global property consultancy Savills, many of those purchasing high-end property were local property-industry tycoons from mainland buyers who have made their fortunes in hot-right-now industries.
However, locally grown business magnates and dynasty heirs were the majority of buyers of the 26 ultra-luxury home transactions exceeding HK$100 million in the last quarter of the year; 23 were from Hong Kong Island and the remaining three from Kowloon according to the Land Registry.
Transaction volumes are more than double the 13 purchases logged in December the previous year and the highest since 2013, indicating an increasingly bullish confidence in Hong Kong’s luxury residential housing market.
Hong Kong’s super prime property - a thawing market
In January of this year the market recorded one of the city’s largest single-day flurry of luxury property transactions with data from the Land Registry showing that five super prime homes exchanged hands in deals valued between HK$93 million and HK$238 million.
William Lau, head of Knight Frank residential in Hong Kong echoes the positive sentiment of the last quarter and expects the market to strengthen further, bolstered by strong demand from cash‑rich buyers and limited supply.
Windfall transaction volumes earlier this year sends a strong signal that the ultra-prime market is being selectively reactivated by balance-sheet-strong investors chasing rare inventory in 2026, thawing a multi-year slump.
“The supply of ultra-luxury properties in Hong Kong is structurally extremely limited to begin with,” Derek Chan Hoi-chiu, head of research at Ricacorp Properties told the South China Morning Post.
“Few new prime locations or rare properties are launched each year, and many high-quality older buildings are being held for the long term.”
With supply structurally capped in Hong Kong Island’s rare prime zones, renewed concentration of local wealth could tighten pricing power at the very top faster than in the wider market.
Hong Kong’s commercial market - a tail on the up
The city’s commercial market is also rebounding, with Hong Kong ranking fifth in CBRE’s 2026 Asia-Pacific investor intentions survey. According to the commercial real estate agent, the sector was buoyed by growing investor interest, particularly from mainland Chinese investors.
As a knock-on effect of growing prosperity in the region, Hong Kong and Asia’s newly minted super-rich is fuelling a boom in private jet sales, The Super Prime reported earlier this month.
The real-time complete list of Hong Kong’s billionaires is available here.
Investor notes: Ultra-prime liquidity has returned first, led by local dynasties, suggesting pricing resilience at the very top.
*The Forbes list was compiled using information from individuals, analysts, government agencies, stock exchanges, databases and other sources. Net worths were based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on January 23, 2026.
