Hong Kong's residential rents may be bottoming out

The rental decline narrowed to 0.3% in January.

The protracted slump in Hong Kong residential rents may end by Q2 2019 as leasing costs appear to be recovering after witnessing their smallest contraction in the past five months, reports South China Morning Post.

Also read: Prime apartment rents could rise by up to 5% in 2019

Residential rents dropped 0.3% MoM to $35.8 psf in January from 1.9% in December and 2.1% in November, data from Centaline Property Agency show. This suggests that the end of the correction that started since August may be coming to a close.

Analysts also suggest that the strong home sales in January could lend support to the slowing rental segment given the positive correlation between the two.

Also read: Developers deploy discounts to sustain sales in January

“Renters could take the current opportunity to rent as this is a traditionally slack period. The market is likely to heat up in the summer, the traditionally brisk season and rents are more likely to pick up,” Derek Chan, Ricacorp head of research told SCMP.