Renting in Hong Kong? Here’s what you need to know
- City’s red-hot property prices may be cooling down but there’s no relief in sight for rents as demand is still strong
Hong Kong property is the most expensive in the world. It is not surprising, then, that the proportion of people who rent their homes is rising. Census data shows that in 2006, 52.8 per cent of homes were owned or mortgaged by the people living in them, while 43 per cent were tenants. By 2016, 48.5 per cent of homes were owned by occupants, and the number of households renting had increased to 46.8 per cent.
Yet there are signs that the red-hot property market is about to cool down: August saw the first dip in home prices in two years. Since then, the Post has reported, sellers have started cutting prices by as much as 10 per cent.
Factors behind this trend include rising borrowing rates, and an incoming vacancy tax on newly completed flats, intended to prevent developers from hoarding empty properties.
What could a slowdown in the property market mean for rents?
A drop in property prices is assumed to be good news for tenants – as rents are expected to fall too.
But Edina Wong, senior director of residential service at property consultant Savills Hong Kong, says a fall in home prices may not benefit tenants as much as hoped.
