appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Salina Li

In a spacious three-storey village house in Sai Kung on a recent sunny Saturday, Chen Wei and his family were unpacking the final boxes after their move from Shenyang, the capital of China’s northeast Liaoning province. Having come with his wife and two sons under Hong Kong’s Top Talent Pass Scheme, Chen, an e-commerce expert, represents a new force recalibrating the city’s future.
“The job opportunity was the first draw, but the final decision was for them,” Chen said, gesturing to his two 10-year-old boys, who were busy arranging schoolbooks from their new international academy. “Knowing how stressful the path can be for schooling on the mainland, the education ecosystem here is a better option.”
The family’s rented home is about a 10-minute drive away from the school. “Living near the right school was our immediate priority, and it takes some time to settle before considering buying a house,” Chen said, adding that the family would definitely be putting down roots in the city.
“Coming all the way here, we are committed to staying here for the longer term.”
Chen is part of a wave of nearly 90,000 professionals who have entered Hong Kong – in many cases with their families – under the government’s three-year-old initiative to attract talent.
The influx has driven rents to record highs, raising hopes that the scheme will also establish a new segment of homebuyers to sustain the housing market over the next decade. The challenge ahead is how to encourage newcomers to transition from renting to owning homes.
“The dynamics of Hong Kong’s property market have fundamentally shifted from local demand – which is decreasing due to falling birth rates – to a predominance of external demand,” said Ryan Ip Man-ki, vice-president of the Our Hong Kong Foundation and executive director of the Public Policy Institute. “It’s only a matter of time before mainland buyers surpass 50 per cent of total property transactions, with incoming talent being a key driver.”
The Top Talent Pass Scheme, launched in December 2022, was the government’s solution to address a brain drain during the pandemic and head off the negative effects of the city’s ageing population.
According to official figures, the government received some 140,000 applications, with around 110,000 approved as of July.
A two-year visa is granted to eligible applicants under three categories, which cover individuals with annual incomes of at least HK$2.5 million (US$321,000). The programme is also open to graduates from 199 select universities and institutions worldwide who have been working for three of the past five years.
The influx of new residents has driven up housing demand, as reflected in the surging residential rental index. The gauge rose 0.2 per cent to 200 in September – the 10th straight monthly increase – to come up just a whisker short of the historical high of 200.1 in August 2019, according to the Rating and Valuation Department.


Between January 2023 and October of this year, rents citywide increased by a cumulative 15 per cent, according to Midland Realty. Among major housing estates, the highest increase was at South Horizons in Ap Lei Chau, where rent per square foot surged 24 per cent to HK$39.60 during the period, Midland data showed. The next biggest increment was Whampoa Garden in Hung Hom, where the average rent rose 23.3 per cent to HK$40.20 per square foot.
However, home prices dropped almost 10 per cent during the same period, according to the agency’s property price index, as developers sold off new-home inventory at a discount while relatively high interest rates continued to deter many buyers.
Benny Sham, an analyst at Midland, said renters would gradually turn to buyers.
“Rising rents and falling property prices have dynamically boosted rental returns, which has prompted some renters to consider purchasing property, and investment appetites are gradually coming back,” he said.
Mainland Chinese buyers have accounted for a higher proportion of total home sales in recent years.
Thanks to Hong Kong’s scrapping of all property cooling measures in February 2024, including various stamp duties, these buyers accounted for 40 per cent of the first-hand sales and 17 per cent of secondary transactions last year, a high since tracking began in 2010, according to Midland’s data.
“Currently, mainland Chinese buyers account for about 30 to 40 per cent of the overall market transaction value,” said Mark Leung, UBS property analyst. “With more mainland professionals and students arriving in Hong Kong, the market share will continue to surge.”
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s demographic shifts will also alter housing demand. The population is ageing, and at the same time, the fertility rate has dropped to the second-lowest level in the world.
The result is that about 120,000 people turn 65 each year, while only half that number turn 22. According to official forecasts, by 2046, the population aged 65 and above will surge to 36 per cent from 24 per cent currently.
“The Hong Kong property market’s source of demand has thus changed fundamentally, shifting from local demand, which will inevitably diminish due to declining birth rates, to external demand dominating the market,” said Our Hong Kong Foundation’s Ip.


But will talent-scheme entrants stick around to buy homes?
In August, the Immigration Department received 9,699 applications for extensions of talent-scheme visas. This included 7,394 people whose visas expired on July 31 – representing 54 per cent of the total expiring visas. In addition, 2,305 people applied for extensions before their visas were set to expire.
The department approved 8,511 of the applications, of which 95 per cent were from mainland China.
Two-thirds of those who renewed said they spent most of their time in Hong Kong, with 70 per cent renting accommodation and 13 per cent owning their own housing, according to a separate survey by the government. The remainder lived in company-provided quarters or hotels.
The numbers were encouraging, Ip said.
“Even with a 50 per cent renewal rate, it still means that the net input of talent is a lot higher than past levels,” he said, adding that from 2016 to 2019, incoming professionals numbered around 60,000 a year, and not all renewed. “Plus we are continuing to expand the quota for non-local students.”
The difficulty of moving money from mainland China to Hong Kong remained a “hindrance” to imported professionals buying homes, Ip said.
In the government’s latest business report in July, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po acknowledged the issue.
“The Hong Kong government is actively working with relevant central government departments to explore whether we can relax these restrictions within an appropriate range,” he said. “This would make it easier for mainland buyers to transfer funds to Hong Kong without causing capital outflow.”
The continuous slide in China’s property market remains a barrier to new residents from the mainland buying homes in Hong Kong.
It took at least six months for some newcomers to cash out their properties back in mainland China, agents said, and even longer for properties in second and third-tier cities – unless they sold them at a loss.
Among the talent-scheme newcomers renewing a visa is Justin Law, a 38-year-old education consultant who came to Hong Kong in October 2023.

Law, who rents a flat in Causeway Bay, said buying a home could be on his wish list eventually.
“It’s too early to consider until I become a permanent resident, living here for seven years, or start my own family with kids,” he said. “Otherwise, there are still many uncertainties.”
Immigrants with families showed a stronger intention to stay because they were “more fully embedded in society” than professionals who were focused mostly on their careers, said Eric Fong, director of a research hub on population studies at the University of Hong Kong.
According to government figures, nearly half of those entering under the talent scheme applied for dependent visas, bringing an average of 1.7 children to Hong Kong.
For those families, like the Chens, education is often the primary anchor.
Hong Kong has been ramping up efforts to attract more international students following the launch of the “Study in Hong Kong” initiative unveiled by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his policy address last year.
In this year’s policy address, Lee followed up with an announcement of a trial scheme to allow primary and secondary schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme to expand their intake of non-local pupils on student visas who are self-financing their studies.
In 2024-25, 17,161 non-local students attended Hong Kong’s eight publicly funded universities, with 12,386 of them, or 72 per cent, from mainland China.
Law, who advises mainland Chinese parents on education in Hong Kong, said his clients increasingly saw the city as a viable option amid geopolitical tensions that reduced the appeal of countries like the US, UK and Australia.
“Properties are essential demands for family-oriented relocations, as they are staying long term for educational purposes,” Law said. “They might rent temporarily, but after the primary applicant’s first visa renewal, they will definitely consider buying a property in Hong Kong.”
HKU’s Fong said the rental market was hot now because some people saw Hong Kong as a stepping stone to their next destination. But among those who ended up calling Hong Kong home, many would underline the decision by leaving the rental market behind, he added.
“Although immigrants may not have sufficient funds to purchase property upon arrival, over time they will buy,” he said. “It isn’t merely about having a place to live. It’s a crucial symbolic step signifying their decision to stay and settle.”


Will AI adoption shrink office space? Asia-Pacific firms are on the fence in survey

Hong Kong property market gets reprieve on rates, but position remains precarious

Developer family’s deals highlight capital shift across Hong Kong property sectors

Kowloon Bay’s new Amoy Footbridge set to draw neighbourhood closer together

Hong Kong property

Hong Kong talent scheme: They came for jobs. Will they stay to buy homes?

Illustration: Henry Wong

A view of Whampoa Garden in Hung Hom, where rents have surged, on August 16, 2025. Photo: Eugene Lee

Mainland Chinese buyers fuel 25% of Hong Kong home sales last quarter, Centaline says

Property listings displayed by a real-estate agency in Tai Wai. Photo: Sam Tsang

Potential buyers and property agents at the sales office of a Wan Chai residential project. Photo: Edmond So

Residential buildings under construction at Kai Tak. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong home rents flirt with record, set to keep rising next year, agents say

A property agency in Tai Wai displays listings on September 2, 2025. Photo: Sam Tsang

An aerial view of Whampoa Garden estate in Hung Hom. Photo: Roy Issa

Business

News

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Economy

Property

Hong Kong & China

Imported professionals could sustain the property market – if they put down roots and transition from renting to owning


Imported professionals could sustain the property market – if they put down roots and transition from renting to owning.


Hong Kong talent scheme: They came for jobs. Will they stay to buy homes?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Imported professionals could sustain the property market – if they put down roots and transition from renting to owning

Imported professionals could sustain the property market – if they put down roots and transition from renting to owning