Hong Kong Office Rents Grow at Fastest Pace

According to JLL's latest Property Market Monitor, rents in Hong Kong's office markets grew at their fastest pace in more than two years amid a tight vacancy environment and an active leasing market. Overall, rents climbed 1.1% month-over-month in April 2018, after advancing a mere 0.2% growth m-o-m in March 2018. Tenant demand focused on Hong Kong East and Kowloon East in April, which accounted for 76% of all new lettings, in terms of floor space, during the month. Rents in the two submarkets advanced by 3.1% m-o-m and 1.2% m-o-m, respectively. The largest deal reported in April involved DBS leasing seven floors (138,000 sq. ft.) at Two Harbour Square in Kwun Tong as it moved to consolidate its back office operations out of Millennium City 6 and One Island East. In Central, leasing demand was underpinned by expansion requirements from the banking and professional services sectors. PRC corporates continued to be a key driver of demand, accounting for 53% of new lettings in Central in April, including GuotaiJunan reportedly leasing 10,100 sq. ft. at Man Yee Building. Net absorption in the overall market amounted to 634,200 sq. ft in April 2018. This was buttressed by the realisation of pre-commitments at Mapletree Bay Point in Kwun Tong, which received its occupation permit during the month.