Latest news with #RyanIpMan-ki
South China Morning Post
07-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Retail rents in Hong Kong under pressure after vacancy rate hits 4½-year high
Retail rents in Hong Kong are expected to remain under pressure, as the trend of residents travelling to the mainland for leisure has led many businesses to opt for short-term leases, experts have said after the vacancy rate in the city's busiest districts hit a 4½-year high. Advertisement Analysts on Monday also attributed the mounting vacancies to shifting consumer preferences and the difficulty landlords faced in securing high-value tenants once luxury goods shops, such as watch and jewellery stores, had moved out. Property agency Midland IC&I's index earlier showed that about 900 stores were empty in four core districts – Causeway Bay, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok – reflecting a vacancy rate of 12.1 per cent in the first quarter of this year, the highest level in 4½ years. 'The vacancy rate is relatively high. Additionally, the trend of northbound travel among Hongkongers has shown no signs of slowing down. In these past months, the figures for northbound travel have set new records,' Ryan Ip Man-ki, vice-president of Our Hong Kong Foundation and executive director of the Public Policy Institute, said on a radio show. 'It seems that the vacancy rate and rent of retail spaces, in particular street-level stores, will continue to be under pressure.' Advertisement A slew of established restaurants and shops have shut down in recent months, with some citing high rents amid an economic slowdown as the main reason.
South China Morning Post
24-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Trump trade war could hurt Hong Kong housing demand despite steady supply: think tank
The US-China trade war and its pressure on the weakening yuan may impair Hong Kong's private housing demand and market sentiment, even as the city expects a stable supply in the coming decade, a local think tank has warned. Advertisement Our Hong Kong Foundation, the city's largest think tank, revealed on Thursday its 10-year forecast of the city's housing supply and raised factors that could hurt private housing demand. 'Recent renminbi devaluation under the short-to-medium-term impact of the trade war will affect mainland homebuyers in Hong Kong negatively,' said Ryan Ip Man-ki, the think tank's vice-president and executive director of its public policy institute. 'In the medium-to-long term, the trade war will affect trading. Hong Kong has around 20 per cent of GDP and employment in the trading and logistics sector. It will pose a certain impact on Hong Kong's economy.' He added that homebuyers' confidence could be affected given the stock market fluctuations but the possible US Federal Reserve interest rate cut could be good news to the local property market. Advertisement Ip said a gloomy property market would also discourage developers from bidding for public land. He urged the government to offer more sites that could be made available for housing construction sooner and require less preparatory work for developers. He also called on the administration to further streamline development procedures and reduce community facility requirements for successful bidders.
