Experts from the company have been pouring over figures from 2010, during which time overall rental levels increased by close to 31 per cent and another strong year has now been forecast for the coming 12 months.
A full year of negative take-up of grade A office space in Hong Kong was recorded across 2008-2009 but since that time the trajectory of demand for the city’s commercial floor plates has been very much on the up.
The second half of last year saw a particularly sharp rise in the levels of interest within Hong Kong’s major business districts, which DTZ attributes in part to a generally thriving local economy.
Increasing interaction between companies with offices in Hong Kong and other areas of the Asia-Pacific region is expected to encourage further economic growth across the city but there are still some concerns about the performance of Western economies.
“The operation and expansion budget of companies with Western-oriented businesses or with close trade connections with the West is still subject to uncertainty if their headquarters’ performance or business is affected by the prolonged drag of an economic slump,” explained Andy Yeun, DTZ’s office agency director.
“This remains a concern in an otherwise upbeat and vibrant office market of Hong Kong in 2011.”
Back in November of last year, CB Richard Ellis reported that the costs associated with renting available office space in Hong Kong are higher than anywhere else in the world, with the exception of that in London’s West End.
Editor’s notes: During and following the pandemic, Hong Kong experienced its own exceptional hardships including civil unrest which is being reflected in a slower recovery rate than some other major cities.
However, in April 2023, it was reported that Hong Kong’s office vacancy rate had declined for the first time in 10 months in March taking it to 12% from 12.2%.
It was also reported that there was net absorption of 203,900 square feet of office space in March which has added to the city’s optimism.
Similar to the time when this article was first published in 2011, following an unprecedentedly difficult period, developers, agents and landlords are seeing positive signs.
The dropping of Covid-19 restrictions and the border with mainland China reopening on February 6 has injected energy into the market and Hong King’s government forecast gross domestic product growth of 3.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent in 2023.