Singapore-based investors have become the largest group of non-local buyers of commercial properties in Hong Kong, drawn by the sizeable correction in the prices of distressed assets amid a slump in the city’s office segment, according to Colliers.
The demand from Singapore was likely to remain steady in the coming months, given that the prices of office assets have declined by as much as 50 per cent, according to Thomas Chak, head of capital markets and investment services at the property consultancy.
“Singaporean investors are drawn to Hong Kong more prominently in the second quarter because pricing has become significantly more attractive after several years of correction,” Chak said. “Many see this as an opportunity to acquire quality assets at a discount while positioning for a longer-term market recovery.”
In the April to June period, non-local and mainland Chinese investment in commercial properties in Hong Kong amounted to HK$5.46 billion (US$696.23 million), of which Singapore-based buyers contributed HK$3.37 billion or 62 per cent of the total, data from Colliers showed. Mainland investors, on the other hand, invested HK$1.23 billion during the same period.
In the preceding quarter, mainland Chinese investors were the largest non-local group that acquired commercial assets in the city, accounting for HK$4.73 billion of the total HK$6.03 billion, according to Colliers. Singapore investors, meanwhile, were absent from the market.
Among the Hong Kong assets that Singapore firms and investors bought in the second quarter were the 152,000 sq ft of space across several floors at The Center, a skyscraper in the city’s main business district, for about HK$2.62 billion by DBS Bank (Hong Kong), as well as the en bloc acquisition by Wee Hur Holdings of One Bedford Place, an office building with 184,041 sq ft in Tai Kok Tsui, for HK$748.8 million, according to data compiled by Colliers.
Hong Kong’s office property leasing segment is seeing a gradual recovery led by prime assets in Central. Grade-A office rents in the district rose 7.3 per cent in the first half, the biggest six-month increase in 15 years, while the district’s vacancy rate fell to 8.8 per cent from 10.9 per cent at the end of last year, according to JLL.
Landmark towers including One and Two IFC posted rent increases of more than 20 per cent.
In the coming months, Chak said investors were likely to seek “stable income-generating assets, particularly in the education and living sectors, and owner-occupiers purchase strategically located commercial properties for self-use and future expansion.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
