See available office space to rent in Hong Kong
CBRE and the investment banking group Daiwa Capital Markets produced a study claiming that the eight million square feet of Grade A office space currently in the supply pipeline falls far short of what the city needs. Based on projected economic growth, the report’s authors estimate that Hong Kong will need roughly 17 million square feet of top-quality new offices to meet demand over the next eight years.
According to the report, failing to deliver the office space major corporate businesses need to operate as they would like in Hong Kong could cost the city its status as Asia’s go-to destination for international firms. While development space is clearly in short supply across the city, CBRE has highlighted several areas that could feasibly host new high-quality office buildings in the years ahead.
“We believe there are solutions at hand to help plug the shortfall and see the seven sites totalling nine million sq ft of new supply proposed in the report as a ‘can do list’ and not a ‘wish list’,” commented Craig Shute, senior marketing director for CBRE in Hong Kong. We strongly urge private developers and the government to come together to fast-track these areas.”
Daiwa Capital Markets’ managing director and regional head of product management, John Hetherington, said: “Developing a further nine million square feet would certainly be an extremely costly endeavour. It would cost an estimated HK$37 billion from the private sector just to acquire the seven government sites recommended by CBRE and Daiwa, and a further HK$23 billion for development.”
For the past two years, Hong Kong has topped Cushman & Wakefield’s list of the world’s most expensive places to rent office space. The West End of London is also included in the list.
Editor’s notes: In the first quarter of 2023, the vacancy rate within the Hong Kong office space market stood at 14.4 per cent – the highest since the 1990s – and rental values were expected to increase by 5 per cent over the year
In Q1 2024, the overall vacancy rate for Grade A offices in Hong Kong was 13.1 per cent. The total vacant office space currently stands at 14 million square feet.
Hong Kong was struggling with oversupply and weak demand, and a report by Savills predicted that office rents would decrease by between 5 and 10 per cent over 2024.
In Q2 2026, total net absorption in Hong Kong was 492,000 square feet, as leasing demand from the financial sector remained robust and pushed the Central district vacancy rate down to 8.8 per cent.
The overall Grade A vacancy rate in Hong Kong stood at 13.1 per cent.
A lack of new supply, combined with positive net absorption, drove the citywide vacancy rate down.
Demand for Grade A space in Central was expected to remain firm through 2026, supported by a strong IPO pipeline and inflows of mainland China wealth.
Central’s Grade A office market recorded its strongest half-year rental growth in 15 years in 1H 2026, and Grade A rents in the district were forecast to continue to rise 10-15 per cent over the year.
Hong Kong’s Grade A office market recorded 1.4 million square feet of new leasing activity in Q3, the strongest quarterly performance since 2019, driven by expansion demand from Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) occupiers. Net absorption reached 412,400 square feet, reducing the overall availability rate to 19.1 per cent. A two-tier market persisted, with core districts outperforming non-core areas and Greater Central leading rental growth, helping citywide rents rise 1.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter.