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Hong Kong property
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Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels rents slashed. Is city’s luxury property set for a historic rout?

  • A duplex at Arezzo in Mid-Levels owned by Taiwanese actress was rented out at about a quarter of going rates last week
  • Anomaly or not, analysts see no strong support for luxury residential leasing market as economy flounders

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Arezzo at 33 Seymour Road in Mid Levels after its completion by Swire Properties in 2014. Photo: SCMP
Snow Xia
Is Hong Kong’s luxury residential market set for a historic rout in the months ahead?
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Last week, a 5,630 sq ft duplex unit on the 50th and 51st floor of Arezzo development at 33 Seymour Road in Mid-Levels was leased for a monthly rent of HK$100,000, according to the city’s Land Registry. The HK$17.80 per square foot price tag is half the average rate on small and medium-sized homes in the city tracked by Midland Realty.

The eye-catching transaction in the property owned by Taiwanese actress Wu Pei-chi, suggests the rates have crashed. Others dismissed it as an anomaly, or a “mate’s rates” deal.

One thing is for sure, the city’s recession-hit economy is about to be roiled by another round of political turmoil, casting a pall on the industry. Over the past 12 to 18 months, trade war, social unrest, and the coronavirus pandemic have combined to erode high-end rents by 15 per cent in the city, according to Habitat Property.
Now, the national security law is raising serious questions about its status as a hub for multinationals and banks, which traditionally provide the city’s landlords with a rich pool of renters among their expatriates and other high-earning executives.
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“The downward trend will continue for a while because at the moment, we do not see many positive supporting factors in the leasing market,” said Koh Keng-shing, founder and chief executive of Landscope Christie's International Real Estate.

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