Hong Kong: Even violent unrest fails to dampen the city's property demand

Just a five-minute drive from Admiralty, tensions ran high as thousands of black-clad demonstrators gathered in Victoria Park chanting anti-government slogans

On Saturday morning in Admiralty on the fringes of Hong Kong’s central business district, prospective home buyers crowded the sales center for One Eighty, brochures and checkbooks in hand.

Within a few hours, developer Three Tops (HK) Ltd had offloaded almost three-quarters of the 53 mainly one-bedroom units on offer, helping to push sales of new apartments over the weekend to the most since late August.

The demand -- even after months of anti-government protests that have tipped Hong Kong’s economy into recession -- is testimony to the strength of the city’s real estate sector. Embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam last month