Can Singapore’s office rents outprice Hong Kong as Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent set up shop in rival financial hub?

Singapore’s office rents have a long way to go before matching Hong Kong’s, even after half a dozen of mainland China’s largest technology behemoths piled into the city state in recent months to set up their regional hubs, analysts said.

The average monthly rent for Singapore’s grade A office space may drop by 6 per cent this year to S$9.01 (US$6.72) per square foot, following the 10 per cent plunge in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic crimped businesses and forced many to postpone their expansion plans, according to data by Cushman & Wakefield. In Hong Kong, average office rent in the Central district may fall by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent this year, extending last year’s 23-per cent tumble to HK$93.8 (US$12) per square foot per month, according to data provided by JLL.