Apartment Choice

Is a market with hardly any liquidity a market? Look at property in Hong Kong, where housing is the least affordable in the world and prices keep climbing in the face of official curbs. Up and Away Hong Kong home prices have paused in the past month but have been climbing for more than 10 years Source: Centaline Property There's very little buying and selling of old homes in the territory. Painful loan-to-value rules mean second-time buyers of property valued at more than HK$10 million ($1.3 million) -- just enough to bag an apartment of less than 500 square feet in Central District -- can only borrow a maximum of 40 percent; it's 50 percent for transactions below that level. An increase in stamp duty last November set the transaction tax at 15 percent of the cost of a resold home for permanent residents, and double that for foreigners (mostly those from mainland China). According to JLL, as Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. is known, transaction volumes in the secondary market have ...

Johnny Depp is slowly selling off the five luxury penthouses he owns in Los Angeles, having now offloaded the fourth. The expensive properties - all of which can be found in the Eastern Columbia Building in the downtown area of the city - were listed collectively at $12.78 million last year. His third apartment was listed earlier this year for an eye-watering $2.475 million - but the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor, 54, has sold the fourth for $1.82 million - suggesting the apartment has not met its asking price - not good news for the superstar who is reportedly still suffering financially from his divorce from Amber Heard. Scroll down for video Johnny Depp sells another of his five Los Angeles penthouses for $1. 82 million amid divorce and financial woes [pictured with daughter Lily-Rose, 18]" class="blkBorder img-share" /> Four down, one to go: Johnny Depp sells another of his five Los Angeles penthouses for $1. 82 million amid divorce and financial woes [pi...