Hong Kong landlords have been among the biggest winners from China’s boom. The combination of low interest rates, mainland Chinese money and an influx of foreign bankers has pushed property prices in some parts of the city to record highs. But, against the odds, Hong Kong’s creative community has expanded, aided at times by a landlord’s worst enemy: superstition.
While the city of 7m has enjoyed the fruits of China’s growth, Hong Kong’s cramped living conditions remain largely unchanged. Many families live in shoebox apartments just 350-400 sq ft in size, while even the roomier two- and three-bedroom properties are rarely much bigger than 800 sq ft.
Meanwhile prices, both to rent and to buy, have soared, returning to levels last seen in the late 1990s, just before the Asian financial crisis. A recent report from Savills rated the city as far and away the world’s most expensive for housing executives from global businesses due to the “weight of money pushing into the city, and physical pressure” on limited land.