Hong Kong residential rents face deeper correction, as fourth coronavirus wave, lay-off clouds gather
- Rents fell 1.2 per cent in September and have declined by more than 10 per cent from a peak in July 2019, Centaline Property Agency says
- Expecting another drop of 3 per cent to 5 per cent in the fourth quarter: Ricacorp
“The market has turned soft for sure. We are seeing fewer people renting flats currently,” said Wong Leung-sing, senior associate director of research at Centaline.
“It very much depends on how the economy goes. If businesses continue to shrink and more people see their incomes get cut, we might see a larger impact on next year.”
If the pandemic takes a turn for the worse with the fourth wave, hopes will fade for an improvement in sentiment and the city’s economy, according to Ricacorp Properties, another agency.
“When people are expecting salary cuts or even job cuts, they have to tighten their belts,” said Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp. “We are expecting another drop of 3 per cent to 5 per cent in rents in the fourth quarter.”
Meanwhile, Carrie Lam was willing to throw nearly 12 billion dollars of good money have bad at the white elephant known as Ocean Park, wage subsidies are set to end next month. That will further depress the Hong Kong economy.