The worldwide financial crisis, along with a slowing economy, is forcing many property agencies to scale down or even close, but global property consultant Knight Frank and local property agency Century 21 Hong Kong see expansion as the way forward.
Knight Frank, which operates 196 offices in 38 countries, is pursuing a variety of growth plans in Asia as its debt-free position boosts its competitiveness amid the credit crunch.
'To my knowledge, we have no closure plans. In the past, we may have been conservative in terms of what we did in the market but our prudence has been proven right,' managing director Colin Fitzgerald said.
'Our operation is leaner compared with our counterparts in the United States and Europe,' Mr Fitzgerald said.
Knight Frank is examining opportunities to establish offices in Japan and South Korea, he said, without giving details.
'However, the decline in property transactions and investors who preferred not doing anything at the moment has had an impact on our revenue,' Mr Fitzgerald said.
