Hong Kong rents ascend as incoming students, professionals compete fiercely for space

Jason Li, a 22-year-old from Shandong province who will be pursuing a master’s degree at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology starting in September, recently put down a deposit on a three-bedrooms flat in Fortress Hill immediately after viewing the unit.

Li’s budget was HK$20,000 (US$2,560) per month for himself and two flatmates. But the rent for the unit he leapt to get, in Fortress Metro Tower, is HK$26,000 per month.

“We increased our budget by HK$2,000 per person to secure it,” he said. “It was so popular that even after we viewed the house in the morning, there were other people interested in viewing it in the afternoon. Therefore, bargaining was simply impossible.”

Li’s experience is an increasingly common one in a competitive rental market where prices are on the rise. Peak rental season is approaching during the second quarter as mainland Chinese students like Li are coming to Hong Kong earlier to look for housing. At the same time, an increasing number of foreign professionals are arriving in the city for work.

“In my experience, it’s easy to find a house, but it’s hard to find a good one,” Li said. “Good properties are rare on the [online] platforms and are often snapped up as soon as they are listed.”

In fact, Li’s group decided to pay for an extra month to ensure they would have suitable housing. “If we wait until August to start looking for a house, it will be too late,” he said. “That is why we decided to start the lease for that house from July 1, even though we will only move in during August.”

The average per-square-foot rent of private residential units in May, calculated on the basis of saleable area, was HK$36.37, a month-on-month increase of about 1.2 per cent. It was the third consecutive monthly increase and a 53-month high, dating back to December 2019, according to Midland Realty.