Hong Kong-based investors still show appetite to invest in the city: survey

Most Hong Kong-based investors are maintaining a positive investment appetite for 2020 despite a challenging local market including an economic slowdown and social unrest, property consultant Colliers International said on Wednesday.

In Colliers’ latest survey 71 percent of the respondents said they are looking to invest within Hong Kong, while 57 percent said their focus will be on value-add investments, which are generally moderate to high risk.

The survey, conducted between Oct. 15 and Nov. 19, covered a pool of 79 developers, REITS, private funds and family offices based in Hong Kong.

“Whilst the property market enters a consolidation phase, we expect the next 12 months to be a buyers’ market in Hong Kong, with investors looking for assets with discounted prices, which will likely have longer negotiation periods,” said Rosanna Tang, Colliers’ Hong Kong and Southern China head of research, in a statement.

Hong Kong sank into recession for the first time in a decade in the third quarter, as more than five months of political protests plunged the city into its worst crisis since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

According to another consultancy Knight Frank, rents of premium office space dropped 11 percent in the past five months.

Colliers added 38 percent of the respondents said they will likely to be “net buyers” in 2020, compared to 17 percent “net sellers”, indicating investors have no urgency to sell their assets.

On the other hand, 89 percent investors said they will invest outside of Hong Kong in the next 12 months, with 49 percent expecting to increase their Greater Bay Area investments in the next three years.