Landlords in the city are reportedly seeing ever greater demand for their premises, and associated rental rates are being forced upward as a result.
The picture varies across the city, but in general, supply has not kept up with demand in Hong Kong in recent months, particularly since the beginning of this year.
Economic growth is now being sustained, encouraging many businesses to expand their operations and seek more office space to rent in Hong Kong, Knight Frank reports.
The cost of renting office space in the city is now forecast to rise by as much as a quarter over the course of this year. “By the end of 2011, it is likely that grade A office rents in all major business districts in Hong Kong would surpass their previous 2008 peaks,” the new report states.
See examples of office space for rent in Hong Kong here
Rent-free periods are now being agreed to less frequently in the city as landlords realise the strength of their position and the current level of demand for high-quality office space in central Hong Kong.
The Knight Frank review of Hong Kong’s office market follows a report from Cushman & Wakefield suggesting that office space in the city is now the most expensive in the world, surpassing even London’s West End.
A number of other Asian markets also look particularly strong at present, with both Shanghai and Beijing seeing notable increases in office rental costs.
Editor’s notes: In 2022, with prime office space at a gross effective rent of $259 per square foot per year, the Central district in Hong Kong was the most expensive place in the world to rent office space.
Followed by Midtown in Manhattan and then the West End in London.
This article was originally published in 2011 in the aftermath of the Great Recession and was updated in the aftermath of the pandemic, during a cost-of-living crisis, a supply chain crisis, rising interest rates, an energy crisis and, on top of this, Hong Kong had its own specific issues to deal with as it is particularly close to the Chinese mainland which suffered considerably during the pandemic, and it has experienced civil unrest.
Despite this, in April 2023, Hong Kong’s vacancy rate declined for the first time in 10 months to 12 per cent
It was also reported that there was net absorption of 203,900 square feet of office space in the previous month.
The dropping of pandemic restrictions and the reopening of the border with mainland China in February appeared to inject energy into Hong Kong’s market.
As companies across the world made a ‘flight to quality’ and sought premium office space with great amenities and substantial ESG credentials, the demand for the best-in-class office space in Hong Kong would likely put upward pressure on rents, and there was a good chance that Hong Kong would remain the most expensive place in the world to rent office space in 2023, too.
As of June 2026, research found that London’s West End was the most expensive location for office space; Hong Kong was second; Midtown New York was third; and the City of London was fourth, at the end of 2025.
It was also reported that sentiment in Hong Kong’s Grade A office market remained positive in Q1 2026 on the back of sustained demand from the banking and finance and insurance sectors.
It was observed that office rental levels of Greater Central and Greater Tsimshatsui continued to pick up, increasing
5.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent quarter on quarter, respectively.
The overall rental level across all Hong Kong submarkets increased by 2.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q1, representing two consecutive quarters of rental growth for the first time since Q1 2019.
The total office leasing take-up in Q1 was 866,000 square feet. Two notable pre-let deals of the quarter included JPMorgan Chase’s acquisition of 186,100 square feet at Artist Square Towers in Greater Tsimshatsui, and AXA Insurance’s commitment to a 73,600-square-foot take-up at One International Gateway Centre (IGC), Greater Tsimshatsui.