Hong Kong real estate investors are hot for co-living in cooling housing market

Investors are turning to alternative assets due to rising property prices in the city

(Credit: iStock)
(Credit: iStock)

One beneficiary of Hong Kong holding the title as the world’s least affordable housing market: co-living investors.

More Hong Kong and institutional investors are putting money into co-living properties due to an increase in demand, as well as smaller returns in traditional real estate investments, according to the South China Morning Post.

A massive uptick in property prices over the past ten years has made it more difficult for investors to make profit on new properties in Hong Kong as the market has started to slow. In turn, more investors are seeking out alternative asset classes such as co-living, data centers and parking garages.

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These properties can give investors yields of about 50 to 75 basis points more than conventional real estate investments, according to the SCMP.

Co-living, in particular, is attractive to investors since renting an apartment in Hong Kong now accounts for about 80 percent of young professionals’ starting salaries — up from 45 per cent in 2006.

Between 2015 and 2020, co-living rents are projected to range from $357 to $2,612. That compares to an average monthly rent of $2,549 in the city, SCMP reported. [SCMP] — Keith Larsen