Hong Kong rental yields to pick up momentum in 2025 amid talent-scheme influx, lower rates

The average rental yield in the city slid 0.01 percentage points to 3.46 per cent at the end of October, partly dragged by an off-season decline in rents, Centaline Property Agency’s Centa City Rental Index Yield showed.

That followed the average rental yield of 3.47 per cent at the end of September, which was the highest reading in nearly 12.5 years, Centaline Property Agency’s Centa City Rental Index Yield showed.

The latest reading on Friday by the Rating and Valuation Department saw rents decline 0.4 per cent in November to the lowest in five months, following a 0.7 per cent drop in October. Still, the data revealed that rents have risen 3.8 per cent on average in the January-to-November period.

The fourth-quarter slide showed what analysts describe as a “seasonal effect”, ahead of next year’s anticipated influx of overseas students and fresh talent in the city’s workforce.

“The decline in the fourth quarter is reasonable, considering we’ve stepped into the off season, but the rents will pick up next year,” said Willy Liu Wai-keung, chief executive of real estate agency Ricacorp Properties.