Hong Kong’s luxury home renters should prepare to pay more in the second half amid rising demand
- Market observers expect high-end rents in the city to rise up to 6 per cent in the second half amid rising demand
- The rental index for homes over 1,077 sq ft rose 2.7 per cent from January to March, according to the Rating and Valuation Department
Hong Kong’s luxury home rents have turned a corner and are set to rise up to 6 per cent in the second half of the year as expatriates return, market observers said.
The government’s Top Talent Pass Scheme and the gradual return of expatriates, who had temporarily relocated to other cities including Singapore amid the Covid-19 pandemic, will support the high-end rental market, they said.
“The demand is quite high for big-ticket leasing,” said Louis Ho, the senior principal sales director at Centaline Property Agency, who expects luxury property rents on The Peak, Hong Kong’s most exclusive address, and the Southern district, to rise 3 to 5 per cent this year.
This is borne out by the strengthening rental index for big homes – over 1,077 sq ft (100 square metres) – which has risen 2.7 per cent from January to March, the highest level since July 2022, according to data from the Rating and Valuation Department.
The Top Talent Pass Scheme announced by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in October to attract professionals and top graduates to the city has had the desired effect. As of mid-April, more than 60,000 applications had been received, with over 50 per cent of them being approved, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on May 9. Among the successful applicants, a few hundred earned more than HK$10 million (US$1.27 million) a year.
