Worst is over for Hong Kong’s luxury home rental sector as local demand fills flats vacated by expats, says SHKP unit

Local tenants have taken advantage of tumbling rents to upgrade to better quality projects amid a dearth of expats, says managing director of Signature Homes

Luxury residential rents increased 1.4 per cent between April and June, the first quarterly rise since the third quarter of 2019, according to JLL

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Luxury apartments and residential buildings at Mount Kellett Road, The Peak. Photo: Roy Issa

Published: 8:30am, 7 Sep 2021Updated: 6:33pm, 7 Sep 2021

The worst is over for Hong Kong’s high-end home rentals sector, as local demand has gradually filled up the empty flats left behind by expatriates, according to the luxury residential leasing arm of Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP).

Luxury home rents have dropped by 16 per cent in the last two years, and local tenants have taken advantage to upgrade to better quality projects.

“The market started to get warmer in the second quarter this year, and rent became stabilised in the summer,” said Derek Sun, managing director of SHKP’s Signature Homes unit, which manages more than 2,000 properties from single houses in the south of Hong Kong to serviced apartments in core business districts. “The worst is behind us and we are more optimistic about the rental market in 2022.”

Luxury residential rents in Hong Kong recorded an increase of 1.4 per cent between April and June, the first quarterly rise since the third quarter of 2019, according to JLL’s Hong Kong Residential Sales Market Monitor.

Mid-Levels saw the highest rental growth, of 2 per cent, among the major submarkets, largely on the back of limited availability.