Hong Kong has surpassed London for being the most expensive office market in 2019. According to the reports from CBRE, the average costs for leasing the best office space in the market for the best location has increased by 3.6 percent globally in the past year. Today the most expensive markets for offices are Hong Kong Central with $322 per sq. Ft. per year and London’s West End with $222.70 per sq. Ft.
As the market for Hong Kong increases, Asia gains more market overall with 14% in the first quarter of 2019. Asia sets a new world record with 45 billion dollars invested in the market. Hong Kong’s position has dropped to sixth place in the world’s most liquid investment markets and dropped from fourth to fifth place on cross-border investments especially in the regions of Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, and Beijing.
New trend rise
Although Hong Kong faced a slight depression by the end of 2018 and performed weaker in the first quarter of 2019, now the market is tending to raise again. Today the investors are positive that the trend will continue to grow throughout the year. Joseph Tsang, the managing director at JLL in Hong Kong, comments that the industrial properties will outperform in the property investment market, due to new measures in the Government’s Revitalization Scheme. The central government is a major carrier of all the processes in industrial levels in Hong Kong and Singapore. With the government’s “Greater Bay Area” initiative, Hong Kong is developing links with Macau and other cities of the pearl river delta. Local and foreign investors are now targeting assets for the capitalization on future growth.
Foreign investments on the rise
Foreign investments have increased in China the highest investment done by both domestic and foreign groups have been estimated to be 3.4 billion US dollars, which is the highest quarterly record up until now. The CBRE has pushed out reports on the market occupancy cost in the first quarter based on a central location, modern infrastructure and transit options, including prime social amenities and Hong Kong Central,l stand on the top of the list followed by London, Hong Kong, New York and Beijing. The rates fall down to upto $187.77 per sq. Ft. in Beijing, which is still considered a high value.