Rents also pick up steam in resurgent mass housing in Hong Kong
Strong demand from businesses and mainland students amid a tight supply of flats is likely to turn up the heat in the leasing sector
Home seekers troubled by recent rises in the mass-residential sector now have an old foe to contend with: a resurgent rental market.
The recent gains in rents at 50 major housing estates in Hong Kong have come despite prices heading the other way for luxury properties, suggesting a polarisation is occurring in the city's rental market.
The average rent at the 50 estates tracked by Ricacorp Properties has grown for the past two months, with month-on-month gains of 0.3 per cent in April and 1 per cent in May, after declining 0.29 per cent during the first quarter.
"Rents began to fall gradually since the end of last year. But the trend has changed since April and the rental growth was more obvious in May. [It was] the highest in 10 months," said Patrick Chow Moon-kit, Ricacorp's head of research.
According to Centaline Property Agency, a flat of about 500 square feet at the Beaumount in Tseung Kwan O was let out for HK$9,500 a month in March. A similar flat fetched HK$11,000 a month recently.
Taikoo Shing in Quarry Bay has also recorded a significant increase in rents.
Patrick Tsang, a director at Centaline, said rents at the housing estate had risen from HK$29 to HK$30 per square foot in January to HK$32 this month.
