Cecilia Cheung May Have Lost $1.1mil After Finally Selling Off An Apartment She Purchased 9 Years Ago

As everyone knows, dabbling in real estate can be a very hit-or-miss financial risk. On one hand, you could do a Stephen Chow and make a sweet profit just by sinking your money into the right building… or you could lose a seven-figure sum like Tony Leung when the market doesn’t go your way.

Then there’s the issue of whether you can find tenants in the first place — a problem that's reportedly been bugging Cecilia Cheung. In 2011 (not long before she and ex-hubby Nicholas Tse announced their divorce), the Hongkong star bought a 2,786 sq ft unit on two upper floors of Century Tower for HK$128mil (S$23mil), which was a record-breaking HK$45,944 (about S$8,260) per sq ft at that time.

Three years later, she was rumoured to have listed the property for HK$200mil (about S$36mil), but the eye-watering price tag was said to have scared off potential buyers (can you blame them, though?). The price was later reduced to HK$168mil (S$30.2mil) in 2017.

Real estate luck continued to evade Cecilia. During the Hongkong pro-democracy movement in June last year, luxury property prices fell, and the 40-year-old further lowered the price to HK$150mil (S$27mil), but still, there were no takers.

​At long last, almost a decade after her purchase, she has finally managed to sell the unit go. According to reports, it was recently sold for nearly HK$140mil (S$25.2mil), which is about HK$60mil (S$10.8mil), or 30 per cent, less than her initial offer six years ago. However, at almost HK$50,000 (S$9,000) per sq ft, it’s still a record high.

If the news is true, then Cecilia has gained a surplus of HK$12mil (S$2.2mil) compared to the price she paid nine years ago. However, after factoring in various expenses like the agent’s commission fees, her net profit is estimated to be about HK$3.88mil (S$698,000).

Actually, it could be even less than that. A source reportedly revealed to HK01 that the apartment was sold for only HK$130mil (S$23.4mil), which is just HK$2mil (S$360,000) higher than its original value in 2011. If this claim is for real, then Ceci may have ended up losing HK$6mil (S$1.1mil) instead after taking into account the aforementioned miscellaneous costs.

Ouch.