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SCMP Reporter

HONG KONG island is still holding its own as one of the most desirable places to rent a flat.

  Property consultant Isabel Michie said the kudos of living in a luxury apartment on The Peak, or the south side of the island was as strong as ever.

  Her comments came after some agents reported a fall in interest in flats at the top end of the market - that covers rental charges of $100,000 a month or more.

  Agents have said there was still high demand for top-quality apartments, but only if customers could be persuaded they really were getting value for money.

  Ms Michie said: 'There has been a fall-back in letting at the high end of the market. This has happened over the last two months or so. It is only the really special apartments which still create a lot of interest.

  'There was a lot of movement earlier this year and a lot of the big firms have already found places for their senior managers.

  'Also, some firms were getting fed up with rising rents, so they started looking for properties lower down the scale.'    Ms Michie is a director in the residential department at First Pacific Davies and she said there was a lot of interest in apartments costing up to $65,000 a month, or slightly more.

  For families, there was a high demand for four-bedroom homes on the south side of Hong Kong island. This had increased after another school opened at Tai Tam.

  The Peak and Mid-Levels were also still proving popular with flat and house hunters.

  In terms of new developments coming on to the market, Ms Michie said much of the fresh property in the near future would be in the New Territories, such as at Tai Po.

  But the market had not seen the level of movement away from Hong Kong island that she had expected.

  'I would have said earlier this year that there was going to be a lot more interest in moving to Kowloon side,' she said.

  'But what has happened is that some people who have moved away from Hong Kong island to Kowloon because of high rents have now come back.

  'In the next year, I can see an increase in activity in the New Territories, but that is inevitable as that is where the new buildings are.'   Ms Michie said she now believed the massive rental increases which marked the first part of the year had gone.



Island still attractive