By Cheryl Arcibal,Salina Li

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Hang Seng Bank chief operating officer Vivien Chiu Wai-man has paid HK$40 million (US$5.14 million) for a 1,651 sq ft luxury flat in Happy Valley, joining a growing list of top business executives and affluent residents who are buying high-end real estate in Hong Kong amid an improving property market.
The flat in Beverly Hill on Broadwood Road was handed over to Chiu on October 6, according to Land Registry records. Chiu paid HK$24,228 per square foot for the flat, which was a record this year for the estate, according to agents.
The property was last sold for HK$16 million in 2014, according to government records.
Chiu is the second top official from the bank that acquired an upscale home in Hong Kong in a span of just over a month.
In late August, then Hang Seng Bank CEO Diana Ferreira Cesar paid HK$26.6 million to acquire a lived-in flat, measuring 1,193 sq ft or HK$22,232 per square foot, at Flora Garden in Tai Hang. Luanne Lim took over as the bank’s CEO effective this month.
The transactions reflected a meaningful rebound in Hong Kong’s residential property segment, as lived-in home prices and acquisitions have risen in recent months.
“Alongside the market’s overall performance, buyer confidence has strengthened with the support of a gradually easing financial environment,” said Rosanna Tang, executive director and head of research in Hong Kong at Cushman & Wakefield.

Prices in the city’s second-hand luxury homes segment rose to their highest this year in August, according to the latest official data.
Residential units under class E category, or those with a saleable area of at least 160 square metres (1,722 sq ft), have increased by 4.3 per cent in a span of five months from April to August, according to an official index released by the Rating and Valuation Department late last month.
Home sales have also increased about 6.7 per cent to 5,643 units in September, according to data released by the Land Registry last week. That marked the seventh consecutive month that residential deals exceeded 5,000 units.
With the US Federal Reserve easing policy rates once again, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority followed suit on September 18, which led to a 12.5 basis point reduction in the prime lending rates of the city’s three note-issuing banks: HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong).
Meanwhile, former Emperor Entertainment Hotel CEO Yu Wing Cheuk Winchel also acquired a HK$49.27 million four-bedroom unit, measuring 1,469 sq ft, at the MVP in Mid-Levels via tender, according to local reports. The project is a new development by the Emperor Group on Bonham Road.
“The post-downturn levels have created compelling value for cash-rich elites, further amplified by equity windfalls and a surge of incoming buyers,” said Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties. “Lower interest rates are adding momentum by easing financing and broadening participation, though they remain a secondary factor for this segment.”