A couple of days ago I posted about a new ArtTactic anaylsis showing slipping confidence in the Chinese Contemporary Art Market (click HERE to read). I also posted a Financial Times article on concerns of payment and fakes in the Chinese auction market (click HERE to read).
Now, the Financial Times is reporting that Sotheby's has seen a drop in purchases at its Hong Kong location from mainland Chinese collectors. As I have reported on in the past, Sotheby's is spending a lot of money to support and grow its Hong Kong location, and this news can not be a good sign for the expected growth and investment in the Asian market.
According to the FT report, the percentage of mainland Chinese buyers at the Hong Kong spring sales has fallen from 44% in 2011 to the range of 20%-25% for 2012. Sotheby's reps claim they are not concerned as other buyers are stepping in, such as collectors from Taiwan.
The FT reports
Source: The Financial TimesKevin Ching, chief executive officer of Sotheby’s Asia, said on Friday that mainland Chinese buyers accounted for only 20-25 per cent of the $316m sales from last month’s spring auctions, which he blamed on the country’s moves to tighten access to credit. Just six months ago, mainland buyers accounted for 44 per cent of the $411m sales recorded in Sotheby’s autumn auctions in Hong Kong.High quality global journalism requires investment.
“There used to be five to six mainland Chinese individuals who would bid like crazy here but they did not make any offer in the spring sales,” Mr Ching said at the opening of the new Hong Kong gallery, which coincided with the city’s annual art fair.
The boom in Chinese demand has helped the top end of the art market recover to 2008 prices after the global financial crisis, and is the main reason why Hong Kong has become the world’s third largest art auction market by sales. In 2010, nearly half the buyers at Sotheby’s Hong Kong auctions were mainland Chinese.
Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s set new records for top lots in New York sales recently but fears that the art world would be hit by a slowdown in the Chinese economy and the eurozone crisis have sent Sotheby’s shares down 25 per cent this month. The only publicly traded big auction house reported a $10.7m net loss for the first quarter.
Despite China’s monetary tightening, it is unusual to find an example of the country’s wealthiest spending less. Luxury retail and Macau’s casinos, which rely on Chinese high rollers, are still booming. Macau’s April gaming revenue was up 22 per cent from a year earlier.
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