Hong Kong repeat sales show shorter holding periods and higher returns

The evening sales during the Spring 2022 Modern and Contemporary art auctions in Hong Kong of Impressionist, Modern, Post-War and Contemporary art saw 47 lots returning to the auction market for the second, third or fourth time, accounting for 49.9% of the total evening sales value.

The average nominal annual rate of return for the 47 repeat sales that were sold at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips Hong Kong auctions this spring came in at 15.3% (not adjusted for inflation). This compared to an average of 5.2% for repeat sales in London’s Marquee week in February and 7.1% for New York’s Marquee week in May.

The average holding period across the 47 repeat sales was 9.6 years, with 80.9% of the lots returning to the auction market within 10 years. This compared to 21.4 years average holding period for the London auctions in February and 25.5 years for the auctions in New York in May.

The third edition of our new Resale Analysis series, looks at the performance of these 47 repeat auction sales and what insights they provide us about the nature of art as an investment in Asia.