Mainlanders spending more than Westerners for Hong Kong rents

Westerners are losing their dominance over upscale rental homes in Hong Kong to mainlanders working for a growing number of Chinese firms in the city.

Citing JLL data, the South China Morning Post is reporting that corporate tenants from mainland China made up 20 percent of the high-end or luxury residential leasing market last year, up from just five percent in 2013.

Executives from the mainland tend to rent units costing HKD300,000 (USD38,222) a month, while those in Western firms opt for HKD200,000, according to Louis Ho, principal sales director for The Peak & South Mid-Levels West at StatelyHome.

“We see more mainland corporates, particularly newly listed firms in Hong Kong, will be generous when it comes to leasing homes for their top executives,” Ho told the Post.

Chinese penchant for luxury Hong Kong rents has surged with a wave of mainland companies opening offices in the SAR. The number of such companies in Hong Kong has risen 75 percent over the last 10 years, according to JLL.

“It’s the driver for the leasing demand,” Laurie Lankester, head of residential at JLL, told the Post.

Monthly housing budgets for senior-level staff in mainland firms usually hover above HKD150,000, rising to HKD300,000 for homes in The Peak and Mid-Levels, Lankester said.