It is a telling indicator of the carnage in the investment banking sector, that year-on-year rental values for luxury residential property in Hong Kong is down almost 16%. Throughout the rest of the region it is almost flat.
The same grim picture reveals itself in the Hong Kong prime office rental market. Central district rental values are down 28.3% year-on-year. This number is only matched - within Asia - by Singapore, where CBD rentals are down 27.9%. These numbers are taken from a study by Jones Lang LaSalle.
Elsewhere prime office rentals are marginally down in Beijing, Tokyo, Taipei, KL and Makati. And they are basically flat in Jakarta and Bangkok.
They are marginally up in Seoul (2%) and Shanghai (2.6%).
In terms of capital values, office buildings have lost 16.7% of their value in Hong Kong in the last year and 18.5% in Singapore. The only places where property values have increased are Shanghai (3.2%), Bangkok (1.5%) and Seoul (4.3%).
Meanwhile the picture in Hong Kong looks likely to get worse with new supply from the monstrously tall IFC Two eventually coming onto the market. Signs are that tenants will continue to push rents further down. For example, it remains to be seen who Hongkong Land will get to take the space JPMorgan is vacating in Exchange Square and Jardine House, now that the firm has moved to 10 floors of Chater House.
