Hong Kong has overtaken London as the world's most expensive office rental market while Beijing and Shanghai have also made their ways into the top five spot, international property consultancy JLL said in a latest report.
Renting a top quality office in Hong Kong will cost an average of $262 per square foot per year ($2,819 per square meter per year) as strong tenant demand and shortages of premium grade space jointly push prices up. That beats London, where rents in premium buildings average $240 per square foot per year, according to JLL's first edition of Global Premium Office Rent Tracker.
Beijing, which is rapidly extending its global business networks, ranks third at $199 per square foot per year while in New York, top rents average $171 amid increasingly rising demand from the technology and media sectors. Shanghai, supported by the growth of domestic enterprises, wraps up the Top 5 list with an average cost of $136.
"Our research reveals that half of the top 10 cities are in Asia," said Chris Archibold, head of markets at JLL Singapore. "A large part of the global growth is now driven out of Asia and international businesses will continue to be keen to set up their presence in the region. In order to remain competitive from a real estate perspective, these cities will need to ensure a supply of appropriately priced, flexible commercial space."
