Hong Kong offices still the priciest in the world

They cost $87.86 per square meter.

Rent for Hong Kong offices are once again the most expensive in the world with a cost of $87.86 (US$11.26) per square meter monthly in Q3, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Asia Pacific Q3 Office Overview.

The sealing of several landmark transactions in addition to several projects under construction suggest further upward pressure on occupancy costs in the future.

Tokyo maintained second place at $69.53 (US$8.91) per square meter monthly followed by Singapore at $51.5 (US$6.6) per square meter monthly.

While Hong Kong boasts of the highest occupancy costs, vacancy rate has marginally increased as Hong Kong slips to 9th place after registering 6.4% in vacancies in office space.

New supply has opened up in Kowloon whilst 90% of the upcoming supply over the next 12 months is still vacant.

The report noted that this year’s highlights of tight vacancies, rental growth and increasing demand from Chinese firms will continue in Greater Central through 2018.

Overall rental growth has been stable although prices in the highly-sought-after and landlord-favorable Central region are on a continuous upward trend.

The report noted that co-working spaces have been slowly gaining traction in the region with the emergence of local and global players especially in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and India.