Hong Kong rents reach pre-pandemic levels

Hong Kong's rents have finally recovered to pre-pandemic levels as mainland Chinese students and professionals flock to the city - Photo: APP

Data from Midland Realty (one of the largest real estate brokerages in Hong Kong) shows that residential rents in Hong Kong have increased for three consecutive months as of May and reached their highest level since 2019, according to Singapore's Strait Times newspaper.

Rental housing is emerging as a bright spot as much of Hong Kong's property market, including office and residential sales, remains in recession.

The areas with the highest growth are those traditionally popular with mainland Chinese tenants, data from online rental platform Wide.hk shows.

West Kowloon, an upscale area with a high-speed rail link to the mainland, saw rents rise 12% from a year earlier in May, nearly triple the city average of 4.2%.

Following the exodus of people and foreign workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong government has introduced visa programs to help attract mainland Chinese professionals to the city.

According to the Hong Kong government, about 110,000 people had arrived in the city through these programs by the end of March.

The average income of those participating in one of the programmes is HK$50,000, about S$8,700, much higher than the city-wide average of HK$20,000.

Wide.hk chief executive James Fisher said the recovering economy had boosted the rental market, with “many jobs” in the aviation, hospitality, food and beverage and retail sectors “coming back”.

But home sales in the city remain weak, with high interest rates discouraging many buyers. Transactions fell 28% in May from the previous month, according to Midland data.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gia-thue-nha-o-hong-kong-dat-muc-truoc-dai-dich-20240624190717733.htm