(Yicai) July 20 -- The record-breaking sellout of an ultra-luxury housing project in Hangzhou, home to technology heavyweights such as Alibaba, DeepSeek, and Unitree Robotics, reflects both the purchasing power of the Chinese city’s affluent tech cohort and the resilience of demand at the very top end of the market despite broader real estate weakness.

The Wang Tianji project’s first 66 apartments all sold out on their first day, July 16. The units -- which mainly range from 296 square meters to 385 sqm, alongside two 624 sqm penthouses -- averaged CNY50.9 million (USD7.5 million) each, a new record for residential high rises in Hangzhou, generating total sales of CNY3.4 billion (USD502.4 million).

Built by local property developer Binjiang Service Group, the project sits adjacent to the main venues of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

The standard apartments sold for an average CNY140,000 (USD20,685) per sqm, surpassing the city’s previous record of CNY120,000. The penthouses also set a new record, with an average price of CNY243,900 per sqm and a unit price of CNY152 million (USD22.5 million), nearing the levels seen for ultra-luxury residences in core areas of first-tier cities such as Shanghai.

Most of the Wang Tianji project’s buyers were aged 35 to 45, with the mean around 39, Binjiang told Yicai. Local residents accounted for about 85 percent, while most of the non-local purchasers were from Shanghai. Roughly 27 percent of buyers were corporate chairpersons, tech executives, local high-net-worth households, and individuals working in finance, securities, and investment, according to Binjiang.

Wang Tianji is not an isolated case in Hangzhou. This year, the city’s premium residential market has been heating up, with multiple ultra-luxury developments fully sold out either on launch day or shortly thereafter. The Qihu Yunzhuang project, for example, sold more than 70 percent of its units in the three months of launch, with an average price of CNY75 million.

High-end clients make purchase decisions much faster than regular buyers, a sales consultant from another luxury project told Yicai. “Around 60 percent of them place orders as soon as they see an apartment they like, without visiting other properties for comparison,” the consultant noted. “Their main demand is for exclusive amenities and limited stock.” 

The rapid expansion of emerging industries, including artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and new materials, has created a new group of high-net-worth individuals, who are key in sustaining Hangzhou’s ultra-luxury housing segment, the person pointed out.

In the first half of the year, 122 new homes priced at between CNY30 million and CNY50 million and 64 priced above CNY50 million were sold in Hangzhou, according to data from Shell Research Institute Hangzhou. Both metrics hit decade-high levels for the same period.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione