Hong Kong expat bankers downsize drastically as housing allowances shrivel
Luxury rental market takes a hit with expats working in finance swapping HK$300,000-a-month flats with killer views for HK$80,000 places, and other expats on rental budgets of less than HK$30,000
Long the golden privilege of the Hong Kong-based finance and banking crowd in Asia, the days of guaranteed housing allowances fat enough to rent a 4,000 sq ft harbour-view home on The Peak or a townhouse in exclusive Repulse Bay for HK$300,000 a month are gone.
That perk is being slashed or eliminated, forcing expatriates working in finance to give up marble Jacuzzis, private gardens and killer views in exchange for something more humble. And it’s putting a damper on the luxury rental market.
“We are seeing more downsizing,” said Maureen Mills, managing director of Executive Homes Hong Kong, a boutique real estate agency that works with law firms. “Partners used to have company leases and were happy to spend HK$150,000. Now with cash packages they are more comfortable at HK$80,000 to HK$100,000.”
In the first quarter of this year, only 7 per cent of Jones Lang LaSalle’s expat real estate clients in Hong Kong were given monthly rental budgets of more than HK$100,000, down from 31 per cent in 2012. Now, 54 per cent of clients make do with less than HK$30,000 a month,―enough for about two small bedrooms squished into 550 square feet in Central district―compared with 11 per cent four years ago.