Sale of 'Most Expensive' Condo in Hong Kong Falls Apart

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Nine months after announcing that it had sold the most expensive apartment in the world, a Hong Kong developer says the deal has collapsed.

Last October the un-named buyer agreed to pay $57 million for the penthouse in 39 Conduit Road, a whopping HK$88,000 per square foot (about $11,000 a square foot). But Henderson Land says the buyer has walked away from the deal, as well as five other apartments in the building, the Financial Times reports.

Henderson says a total of 20 deals in the tower have been cancelled, suggesting that the market for high-end apartments in central Hong Kong may be cooling. The prospective buyers walked away from 5 percent deposits, according to the FT.

"The cooling of the market has been compounded by a drawing back by mainland Chinese buyers, who account for as much as half of transactions in some luxury projects, due to tightened liquidity at home," the FT speculates.

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