The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to the latest statistics from the Central Plains (commercial and commercial stores), the Hong Kong commercial building market recorded about 497 leasing transactions in July, which is roughly similar to about 483 in the previous month, with a slight increase of about 2.9% over the previous month; the leased floor area was about 1.29 million square feet, an increase of about 6.6% over the previous month. The Central Plains (commercial and commercial) expects that, driven by the upgrading, relocation and expansion of offices by foreign financial institutions, the number of office leases is expected to break through the 500 mark in August, and the vacancy rate in the core area will continue to improve.
Chen Yanlou, chief sales director of Zhongyuan (commercial and commercial store), said that according to Zhongyuan (commercial store) data, the commercial building market recorded about 497 leasing transactions in July, a slight increase of about 2.90% month-on-month and a year-on-year decline of about 4.24%; while the leased area was about 1.29 million square feet, up about 6.6% from the previous year, down about 10% from the previous year.
Chen Yan-lou pointed out that the overall vacancy rate in Hong Kong Island has been improving for 7 consecutive months this year. The latest vacancy rate recorded 10.6% in July, an improvement of 0.42 percentage points over the previous month, and a sharp drop of 2.35 percentage points from the previous year.
The vacancy rate in Central District fell below 10% to 9.74% for the first time in 4 years, hitting a monthly low after December 2022. It fell 0.67 percentage points from month to month, and also dropped 3.15 percentage points from the previous year. Admiralty recorded 4.44%, down 0.51 and 3.7 percentage points from month to month, respectively; while the vacancy rate in Causeway Bay rose narrowly, recorded 8.13%, an improvement of 0.16 percentage points from month to month, but up 0.21 percentage points from the same period last year.
The Kowloon district recorded an overall vacancy rate of 15.86% in July, an improvement of 0.08 percentage points over the previous month and a slight increase of 0.01 percentage points over the previous year. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate of the districts developed separately. Among them, Tsim Sha Tsui District recorded 6.76%, a slight increase of 0.24 percentage points over the same period last year, but the vacancy rates in Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay recorded 16.97% and 25.18% respectively, a significant increase of 2.38 and 3.2 percentage points from the previous year, while the month-on-month improvements of 1.12 and 0.09 percentage points were recorded respectively.
Chen Yan-lou added that currently the rent for Hong Kong Tower A has been adjusted to an ideal level, attracting large, medium and large enterprises to settle in, and in line with foreign-funded institutions speeding up the deployment of expansion plans in Hong Kong, it will continue to drive demand for office relocation and floor expansion. Meanwhile, the performance of the Hong Kong financial market continues to be strong, further driving the demand for office leasing in the financial and related professional services industry.
The Central Plains (commercial stores) anticipates that, driven by the demand for enterprise expansion and relocation and upgrading, commercial building leasing transactions are expected to exceed 500 units in August, while rental activity in Jiaxia in the core area is expected to remain active, and the overall office market will show a “stabilizing price” situation.