Leasing activity in Hong Kong’s office market improved notably in Q3, with gross leasing volume rising 25% quarter-over-quarter to 1.3 million square feet. Year-to-date leasing reached 3.2 million square feet, down 12% from last year but already making up 73% of the full-year forecast for 2024, according to CBRE.
Positive Net Absorption Across All Major Submarkets
Hong Kong recorded citywide net absorption of 691,800 square feet — the highest quarterly total since Q3 2018. For the first time since mid-2015, every major submarket posted positive net absorption.
This strong demand helped offset 409,600 square feet of new unleased space added by a recently completed building.
Vacancy Rate Falls While Rents See Slight Decline
The overall vacancy rate in Hong Kong’s office market decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 17.1%, marking the largest quarterly drop since 2018.
Despite this, vacancy remains elevated and contributed to a 0.7% quarter-over-quarter fall in rents. Year-to-date rents have declined 3.4%, with all major submarkets seeing rent drops except for Greater Tsim Sha Tsui, which held steady.
