Sotheby's Hong Kong Sales

Le-min Lim of Bloomberg is reporting that the large 5 day sale of Asian property including antiques, paintings and jewelry at Sotehby's Honk Kong location is expecting to bring about half of what was totaled at last years sale. The markets have not fully recovered and there is still a lot of uncertainty and trepidation on the part of collectors.

Lim writes Sotheby’s said it expects the auction of 1,700 items to fetch more than HK$600 million. At the same sale last year, the company tallied HK$1.77 billion. Estimates don’t include buyer’s commission.

Sotheby’s has reduced estimates at this auction to reflect the slump in the global art market triggered by the latest round of a credit crisis that began in the fourth quarter, said Quek Chin Yeow, Sotheby’s Hong Kong-based Asia deputy chairman. There isn’t a widely used price index for Asian art; auction results in Hong Kong and large gallery transactions are the best indicators of where prices are headed.

“The market is still weak,” said Qu Liqun, a Shanghai- based antiques collector. “Most people prefer to wait and observe the market rather than buy, although they may make an exception with an item that’s truly remarkable.”

To read the full artilce by Lim, click HERE.