Emigration wave sends prices of Hong Kong international school debentures sliding, with rare vacancies on elite local campuses too

Hong Kong’s wave of emigration has kept prices of international school debentures on the downward trend, while creating rare vacancies in several elite local schools too. The Post reported in January that prices had slid by as much as 40 per cent, with consultants attributing the drop to the city’s closed borders and a wave of emigration. Prices have slid further since. Debentures are a type of loan – sometimes refundable – paid to international schools in exchange for gaining priority in enrolment. Of the 50-plus international schools, debentures from four are sold on the second-hand market, with trading prices subject to schools’ approval. Posing as a potential client, a Post reporter asked for the latest prices at the four schools. One consultant said prices had slumped further by about 5 per cent as more families were leaving Hong Kong and needed to sell the debentures. “The price drop is a result of the change in demand and supply,” the consultant said. Hong Kong’s ESF school group to raise tuition fees for students Of the four schools, Victoria Shanghai Academy in Aberdeen saw the sharpest drop in its debenture price in the second-hand market, falling from a peak of HK$5.3 million in 2015 to HK$4.2 million in January, and slipping further to HK$3.95 million now. Chinese International School in North Point, which only sells debentures to corporate clients, recorded a peak price of HK$12 million in 2015. Some agents quoted the price in January at HK$9 million. It has dipped further to HK$8.5 million. Harrow International School Hong Kong in Tuen Mun saw its debenture price drop from nearly HK$6 million in 2014 to HK$3.4 million in January. The latest quoted price of HK$3.3 million is the lowest approved by the school. The debenture price at Independent Schools Foundation Academy in Pok Fu Lam fell from a previous high of HK$7 million to around HK$4.8 million in January and HK$4.75 million now. Tony Chan Wai-hung, sales director of Everfine Membership Services Limited, said soaring debenture prices in the past were mostly driven by mainland Chinese keen to place their children in Hong Kong schools. While Covid-19 travel restrictions had an impact on demand, he doubted that debenture prices would go up when the border reopened. Nearly 14,500 Hongkongers apply for work, study permits in Canada “Hong Kong is not as attractive as before. The reputation of Hong Kong has been tarnished in recent years and mainlanders now find it easier to move overseas,” he said. Chan added his company used to sell nearly 20 debentures a year when the market was hot, but sold only around five over the past two years. Hong Kong’s emigration wave began after Britain, Australia and Canada offered new migration pathways following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law on the city in 2020. Apart from international schools, the impact has also been felt at local elite schools which have seen more students leave earlier than expected, as the summer break was brought forward amid the fifth wave of Covid-19 infections. Dion Chen, chairman of the Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools, said some parents chose to leave when the summer holiday was advanced to March and preferred not to wait until the term ended in August. “They will have more time to get prepared in other countries if they leave now,” he said, noting that school terms overseas usually started in September. Chen, who is principal of Ying Wa College, one of 22 elite and grants schools in the city, said some of his students had left without waiting for the end of term. Nearly 80 per cent of these schools have begun accepting applications for admission to Forms Two to Five, reflecting vacancies rarely seen in the past. Fewer Hong Kong students apply to British universities According to the latest UK statistics, about 103,900 Hongkongers applied for the new pathway to British citizenship in the first year of the scheme, with 97,057 approved. Official figures from Canada showed that 3,444 Hongkongers were granted permanent residence in 2021, more than double the number in 2019, before the pandemic. Last year, 19,064 Hongkongers were granted Canadian study or work permits, including extensions, more than four times the number in 2019. They include 7,952 on the new work permit for Hongkongers. These do not confer permanent residence immediately, but offer pathways to that and citizenship.

Emigration wave sends prices of Hong Kong international school debentures sliding, with rare vacancies on elite local campuses too

Prices have slumped further since January as more families leave Hong Kong, consultant says Early summer break resulted in students at local elite schools quitting sooner to migrate

Prices have slumped further since January as more families leave Hong Kong, consultant says

Early summer break resulted in students at local elite schools quitting sooner to migrate