Hong Kong's university graduates are joining the public housing race

The number of applications hit as high as 32,000 in the year to March 2015.

Bloomberg reports that a university degree isn’t able to get as far as it used to in Hong Kong as almost half of the applicants for public rental housing aged under 30 for the year through March 2018 have college degrees.

Also read: Public housing rents to climb 10%

The number of applications outstanding for young graduates seeking public housing reached as high as about 32,000 in the year to March 2015, according to Bloomberg calculations based on government data. 

“The expensive housing market has prompted a trend where well-educated young people -- who didn’t have to apply for public housing in the past -- may be descending the social ladder,” said Anthony Chiu, an executive director at the Federation of Public Housing Estates.

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The average monthly rent for a public housing apartment is around $1,880 in 2017, government data show, with residents needing to wait for an average of five years and three months before a flat can be allocated. 

The number of millennials edged out of the hyper-expensive property market has hit an extreme high in the SAR, prompting young and educated Hong Kongers to settle in industrial buildings and share dormitory style co-living spaces.

Also read: Home Ownership Scehme 2018 oversubscribed as citizens scramble for affordable housing

An average Hong Konger earning $50,000 in annual income would need around $900,000 to purchase a home as the city ranks as the most expensive housing market for the eighth year in a row, according to annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.

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