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| RICS Hong Kong: Rental falls slow as supply starts to dwindle A slowdown in the number of properties coming on to the rental market saw the rate at which rents decreased ease slightly in the three months to July, says the latest RICS Lettings Survey published this week. The net balance of Chartered Surveyors reporting falls rather than rises in rents narrowed to 29 percent from the historic low of 55 percent recorded in the previous three-month period. The main driver for this improvement in sentiment is a reduction in the number of respondents seeing the level of new instructions increase. Only a net balance of 6 percent of Chartered Surveyors felt that the level of new instructions was still rising rather than falling, compared with 21 percent in the previous period. This may be the first indication that the stabilisation in the residential sales market is having an impact on the number of accidental landlords entering the lettings sector. Demand for property is still increasing, albeit at a slower pace, with 12 percent more Chartered Surveyors reporting a rise rather than a fall in the number of people looking to rent, slightly lower than the 16 percent recorded in the February to April report. The outlook for rents is steadily improving offering some encouragement for landlords, with the rental expectations net balance reaching -6 percent, up from the previous reading of -25 percent and offering the best reading since the spring of 2008. "Looking at the situation in Hong Kong, there is a recent surge in residential values. With signs of a gradual recovery in occupier demand rents are expected to start edging up later in the year, " commented Mr. David Faulkner, Vice Chairman of RICS Hong Kong. Mr. Albert So, Chairman of RICS Hong Kong, commented, "Following the general improvement for the market, we have already seen a slight improvement in the residential rental market in Hong Kong. The upward trend started from the 2nd quarter of this year. According to the rental indices by R&V Department, the rental level has been improved by over 4% between April and July and the trend continuous through August." write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Construction News :: home page |