Shares of the San Francisco-based cloud solutions provider were lower in mid-afternoon trading on Monday.

Separately, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, solid stock price performance and impressive record of earnings per share growth. However, as a counter to these strengths, the team finds that the company's return on equity has been disappointing. TheStreet Ratings has this to say about the recommendation:

The team rates as a Hold with a ratings score of (CRM) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted the rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. 

 The downturn in the mining industry has been blamed for a 23-year high in the office vacancy rate in Perth.

A report by forecasting firm BIS Shrapnel has revealed 22 per cent of office space in the central business district is empty.

That is the highest vacancy rate since 1993.

Rents have also collapsed, falling by more than 40 per cent since the peak of demand for office space in 2012.

BIS Shrapnel commercial property project manager Lee Walker said the vacancy rate had not peaked and the downturn had at least two more years to run.

"Demand for office space is closely linked to the resources cycle and we've seen sustained resources investment for close to a decade, but now a number of the projects have come to an end," he said.

"Particularly in iron ore and now in LNG and there are no new projects to replace what is winding up."

Landlords forced to offer rent incentives

Mr Walker said the situation would get worse over the next two years as office space under construction is completed, such as Woodside's 55,000 square metre headquarters in mid-2018.

"On our forecast we don't see any strength of demand for office space for at least the next two years, so there is still a lot of pain ahead for office builders in Perth," he said.

The weak demand for offices has also led to a big drop in rents.

"Since the peak [of the mining boom] in 2012 prime net face rents have fallen by about 20 per cent and net effective rents, which include incentives, have fallen by close to 60 per cent," he said. hong kong office leasing

Net effective rents take into account leasing incentives landlords offer tenants to try to rent office space.

Mr Walker said during the boom, landlords were not offering incentives, but they have been forced to in the current climate.

"It's certainly pretty bad in the Perth office market and we think the downturn is far from over," he said.

"Other commentators are saying we are close to the bottom, but we don't think so. There is at least another couple of years in this downturn to come."

Coworking— a game changer in office space

By Cecilia Chow / The Edge Property | April 8, 2016 10:00 AM MYT

Collective Works is now on the radar of most office landlords in the CBD when it was announced on March 23 that developer CapitaLand has formed a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with the coworking space operator for a new 22,000 sq ft premium centre on the 12th floor of Capital Tower.

The 254m-tall, 52-storey Capital Tower is a landmark office building at the corner of Cecil Street and Robinson Road. According to CapitaLand Singapore CEO Wen Khai Meng, its aim is to create a test bed for premium coworking space at Capital Tower, and it will be the first such offering in a Grade-A office building in the CBD. When the space is completed in June, it will be able to accommodate 250 companies.

According to Wen, the JV company will lease the space from the landlord, CapitaLand Commercial Trust, at market price on commercial terms. Collective Works, a coworking pioneer and leading operator in Singapore, will manage the space on behalf of the JV, he adds.

The asking rent at Capital Tower is about $10 psf a month, according to Corporate Locations in its March report. “Only 50% of the coworking business is the space, the other 50% is the community,” says Jonathan O’Byrne, founder and CEO of Collective Works. “Coworking is like the Uber of office space. You only pay for what you use for as long as you need the space.”

O’Byrne sees coworking as a way of exploiting the inefficiencies in the traditional office space to create greater efficiencies and optimising its use.

Collective Works is typical of the small high growth companies it targets as members in its coworking space. Thirty-year-old O’Byrne continues to work out of his coworking space at The Globe, a 15-storey Grade-B office building at the junction of Cecil Street and Boon Tat Street, where he first started the business in December 2012.

CapitaLand has partnered with Collective Works to turn the 12th storey of

Capital Tower into a high-end co-working space.

Source: CapitaLand

Derisking
As a coworking space operator, Collective Works signs a master tenancy agreement with the building landlord and fits out the space as well as the add-on facilities and services. It assumes the real estate risks. But it derisks the real estate holding costs for the users, says O’Byrne.

The master lease is fractionalised and sold as a membership based on a monthly subscription. For instance, coworking memberships at Collective Works starts from $240 per person a month for hot-desking. Dedicated memberships are from $800 per person a month, while premium memberships that include the use of private studios start from $1,000 per person a month. Members of Collective Works will be able to use all future locations in the Collective Works Network. Members will also be able to use the other shared spaces, such as meeting rooms, video conferencing facilities, the pantry/ coffee bar and the lounges, as well as have access to events and the British Chamber of Commerce network.

“I started Collective Works because I saw isolation being one of the major challenges of small businesses and found a way of fixing it,” says O’Byrne. He came to Singapore in 2010 at the age of 24. Prior to that, he worked for two years as a communications specialist for an industrial corporation in Oman.

When he came to Singapore, he started a branding and PR company called NuCo, with clients in Singapore and the Middle East. After two years, he was “commercially very successful, but personally very unhappy”, he recounts. “I knew I wasn’t alone. I kept meeting people in Singapore who are entrepreneurs, but they weren’t quite prepared to make that jump from a home office to a proper office space as the risk was huge, especially if they had other financial commitments — for instance, children and a mortgage.”

When he was shopping for office space, he started thinking of ways he could derisk the whole process of getting an office space, without the upfront costs and being tied down by a two- or three-year lease. After searching for six months, Collective Works started with just one floor — the 14th level of The Globe.

O’Byrne: I started Collective Works because I saw isolation being one of the major challenges of

small businesses and found a way of fixing it

Flexibility
To start Collective Works, O’Byrne shut down the profitable NuCo and put all the money as well as his entire savings into the coworking business. “It took everything I had,” he recounts. That was in 2012.

“We opened with no clients, but I believed that this coworking space had to exist,” he adds. By June 2013, the floor was full, and within the next 24 months, the company had taken up five floors with total space of 11,000 sq ft. Today, its membership at The Globe is almost fully subscribed. It now occupies about 25% of the office space at The Globe, making it as big an anchor tenant as Thai Airways, which occupies the first three levels of the building.

He has continued to reinvest in the business over the years and is constantly looking at ways to optimise space use. Given the high cost of real estate in Singapore, “it’s incredibly wasteful to have parts of a floor that are unutilised”, he says.

Some of the high-profile start-ups at Collective Works include online restaurant reservation app Chope, which secured its Series B funding while at the coworking space at The Globe and moved out after nine months when it outgrew the space.

ReFUEL4, a technology partner of Facebook, has been at Collective Works for over two years. The company was co-founded by Singaporean Vernon Vasu, a lawyer by training, an ex-civil servant with the Health Promotion Board, former managing director of Batey Ads Malaysia and, prior to that, a specialist in trade policy at the Information Development Authority of Singapore.

When ReFUEL4 first started, the company rented space in a conservation shophouse for a year. “It wasn’t a very usable space and had uneven floors. We didn’t want to spend too much time managing the space,” says Vasu. “So, we looked for a coworking space as it also provided a social element.”

Since the company moved into Collective Works in 2014, it has tripled in size, from five staff to 15 today. It started with hot-desking and took up a studio when the company grew. Then, it expanded into two suites. Now, the company occupies an entire floor and it intends to stay for the foreseeable future. “Coworking is ideal for small high-growth companies like ours,” says Vasu. “We want to focus on growing our business and not managing an office.”

The wet conference room and diner on the 14th floor of Collective Works at The Globe on Cecil Street

‘The future of workspace’
Larissa Murphy, co-creator of Contrast Global, a design firm that specialises in commercial office space, is also operating out of Collective Works. Murphy was previously a director of HBO+EMTB. “We chose coworking because we think that in the future, everybody will work in such spaces,” she says.

Murphy likens coworking to a gym membership. “In the future, a coworking membership will be like a gym membership. You will be able to go to the coworking centre that is most convenient for you,” she says. “It will make life a lot easier and will definitely be the workplace of the future.”

Founded in June last year, Contrast Global has been working out of Collective Works at The Globe since last September. “It’s much more cost-effective,” says Murphy.

Contrast Global had done its homework and tested a lot of coworking spaces before deciding on Collective Works. “Some of the coworking spaces looked very beautiful but weren’t functional,” she observes. “And some of them were designed as social spaces, which is important in a coworking space, but they were designed more for socialising and not for work.”

Besides Collective Works, other coworking operators include JustCo at 120 Robinson Road and 6 Raffles Quay, The Hub Singapore on Prinsep Street and The Working Capitol on Keong Saik Road.

New demand

Will coworking space be the solution for office landlords suffering from high vacancy? “Absolutely not,” says Chris Archibold, JLL head of markets. “It definitely opens up a new market segment, especially in Singapore, where the government is encouraging entrepreneurship.”

Government agencies are also in the coworking space. For instance, JTC and SPRING Singapore, which launched JTC Launchpad for incubators and start-ups in the biomedical, IT and media industries at one-north. It is also known as Block 71 by its tenants and expects to house 750 start-ups by 2017.

“There’s a market for coworking globally and certainly in Singapore,” adds Archibold. However, he feels that the coworking segment in Singapore is limited by a number of factors, including the limited population and “a bit of the iron rice bowl mentality” as the preferred jobs appear to be in the civil service sector.

Experimenting
For developers and major office landlords in Singapore, the priority will still be to lease the brand-new Grade-A office space to blue-chip corporate tenants, says Peter Andrew, CBRE director of workplace strategies in Asia.

However, landlords are more willing to look at how they can reposition their Grade-B or Grade-C buildings and to give it an edge to differentiate the space. “But the coworking market is price-sensitive and the operators are not necessarily going to have the big bucks,” says Andrew.

Keppel Land has introduced a 6,400 sq ft hybrid serviced office and coworking space at Keppel Towers in Tanjong Pagar. It offers flexible shared office space ranging from fully furnished office suites to hot-desking workstations on short- or long-term leases.

Called Workspace at Keppel Towers, it is managed by Keppel Land. In the six months it has been in operation, it has achieved an occupancy rate of about 80%, says Tan Swee Yiow, Keppel Land’s president for Singapore. “Moving forward, we are looking to expand the coworking space at Keppel Towers and explore similar solutions at our other office buildings in Singapore as well as overseas markets.”

What will really affect the evolution of coworking space is a mobile application that can connect people who want a coworking space for a day, a week or a month. “If there’s an app that can list all the coworking spaces similar to Uber or Airbnb, where you can choose the one that you want, book it and pay for it, that will be quite transformational,” says CBRE’s Andrew.

‘Space filler’
While coworking space is not going to solve the vacancy issue in the office market, it will encourage a move towards greater efficiency, adds Andrew. Currently, in Singapore, about 80% of the coworking space is outside the CBD. “In terms of the impact on office leasing and rents, it is largely a space filler in office spaces, mainly Grade-B buildings,” he says.

About 2% of the total available office space in Singapore is occupied by shared space, which includes coworking space and serviced offices. “It’s quite significant, given that coworking is at a nascent stage,” says Andrew. “However, the impact on Grade-A office rents is marginal.”

Nevertheless, O’Byrne of Collective Works is confident that coworking will grow exponentially in Singapore. He sees Singapore as an ideal hub in Asia-Pacific for financial technology companies, which will require coworking spaces.

“There’s a misconception that coworking is only for start-ups,” he says. “At Collective Works, we have a couple of unicorns — small companies that are valued at over US$1 billion ($1.4 billion). They continue to work in small teams and to embrace the ethos of coworking.”

This article appeared in the City & Country of Issue 723 (April 11, 2016) of The Edge Singapore. 

sourced by http://www.theedgeproperty.com.sg/content/coworking%E2%80%94-game-changer-office-space

 2014年的寫字樓市場，可算是較為平淡的一年，雙倍印花稅（DSD）陰霾下，買賣交投量較2013年進一步下跌三成，惟受「追落後」及滬港通概念帶動，吸納量極速反彈，整體空置率也回升至不足5%。萊坊高級董事及估價及諮詢主管林浩文相信，今年寫字樓市場將會更為活躍，發展商拆售寫字樓單位的動作，仍是市場焦點所在。

回顧

自港府於2013年2月時，首度將辣招伸延至熱炒的非住宅物業，工商舖市場如商舖、寫字樓、工廈及車位的買賣一律受規管，須付雙倍印花稅，並在簽訂「買賣協議」後即付，令工商舖投資急劇轉勢。過去兩年，住宅市場早已走出辣招的陰霾，整體樓價及買賣成交量於2014年大幅反彈，反觀寫字樓交投卻大大跑輸住宅市場，買賣成交再創新低。

中原地產研究部高級聯席董事黃良昇指出，2014年寫字樓買賣合約登記錄得1,334宗，總值388.83億元，較2013年的2,183宗及574.37億元，大幅下跌38.9%及32.3%，去年錄得的宗數為2003年1,256宗後11年的按年新低，更是近10年來首次處於2,000宗水平以下，反映2014年寫字樓交投頗為淡靜。租金方面，據「美聯商業指標甲廈租金指數」的最新數字，該數字去年11月報146點，按月升約1.4%，屬近兩年半高位。

事實上，即使在樓市辣招延至工商舖物業前，過去數年寫字樓的買賣交投，也遠遠不及舖位及工廈市場般熾熱，主要由於2008年金融海嘯爆發後，歐美經濟表現疲弱，不少外資或國際金融機構紛紛削減於本港業務的規模，為降低租金成本，部分企業也將辦公室由甲級核心地段，遷至非核心地段如九龍東、港島東一帶。自此，中環、金鐘等核心地段的寫字樓租金由2007年的高位回落10%至15%。自雙倍印花稅實施，由於投資全幢寫字樓銀碼較大，所涉及印花稅多，投資成本高，故投資者購入全幢寫字樓的意欲也大降。

滬港通刺激寫字樓交投

經歷了一年多的低谷期，寫字樓市場於2014年第二季開始漸見回勇，交投漸見回升。當中一個原因，是去年4月中國證監會公布正準備啟動滬港通，隨即吸引一批中資金融機構積極進駐中環及鄰近地區寫字樓，其中招商銀行證券、中信建投證券等中資龍頭金融機構，也不約而同在去年在本港租用寫字樓。獲得這批租戶生力軍支持，為寫字樓租務市場帶來動力。

及至年中，寫字樓市場正式發力，去年6月中時，花旗集團以54.25億元，向會德豐地產購入觀塘海濱道83號One Bay East東座，成去年寫字樓買賣金額最高的成交紀錄。本地發展商也紛紛入市，如新世界（00017）也於去年11月以約16億購觀塘鴻圖道75號KOHO；泛海集團於8月時以約11.05億元購灣仔中央廣場福利商業中心。

由此可見，由於寫字樓樓價升幅於過去兩年跑輸大市，追落後心態下，吸引資金回到寫字樓市場。據中原地產研究部數據，寫字樓買賣於去年7月開始反彈，自8月至12月期間，每月買賣成交企穩100宗以上水平，9月時買賣宗數更達204宗，為2013年3月以來首次觸及200宗以上水平。最新的數字，是去年12月錄得114宗成交，成交金額總值為28.38億元，較11月的104宗及18.76億元，分別上升9.6%及51.3%。

核心區商廈空置率偏低

萊坊林浩文認為，2014年寫字樓市道已大為好轉，最值得留意的，是吸納量明顯回升。「2014年首11個月的寫字樓吸納量已超過91萬平方呎，我估計全年吸納量將達100萬平方呎，可見去年寫字樓市況已明顯改善。」同時，目前整體寫字樓平均空置率不足5%，他表示，現時核心區寫字樓空置率只有3%至4%左右，部分「超甲級寫字樓」如中環IFC的空置率更低於2%。觀察過去數年甲級寫字樓平均空置率達6%左右，足證明目前空置率屬偏低水平。他表示：「現在空置量沒有上升，同時吸納量提高，即是外來需求有所增加。」

林浩文解釋，去年吸納量增加，主要受惠於滬港通，「來港租用寫字樓的中資金融機構增加，同時外資金融機構的情況也好番，但當然始終不及2008年前，當時外資金融機構來港，一租可能是1萬至2萬呎，現在可能每次只租2,000至3,000呎，所需的面積細咗；幸好中資金融機構、券商、上市公司來港開設寫字樓，她們所租用的面積也增加，因此去年寫字樓的環境算是不錯。」

非核心區三分一入場費

除滬港通效應外，林浩文指去年寫字樓市場的特色，是不少發展商將寫字樓拆售，「以往寫字樓拆售，多是一層層出售，涉及金額甚高，及至近年發展商見到市場上寫字樓單位的需求增加，故將部分寫字樓拆細賣；另一個原因，是香港有好多中小企，如果付得起錢，與其交租，不如自己買寫字樓，故吸引到不少買家投資寫字樓市場，最近一年交投也暢旺。」

其中新地（00016）於去年7月新地拆售旗下黃竹坑全新商廈項目W50，單位最低售價由603萬元起，於短期內全數沽清，造價甚佳。「現在可以拆售的核心區甲級寫字樓其實不多，如中環皇后大道中9號、金鐘力寶中心等，價錢已愈來愈貴，最高的價錢已近每平方呎3萬元，因此投資者會留意非核心地區如九龍東或港島東，由於這些地區的價錢相對較低，呎價只是8,000餘至1.3萬元，價錢只是中環、金鐘等核心區三分一，或多少少，對他們來說有吸引力。」

展望

對於今年的寫字樓前景，市場普遍看法正面，主要基於核心商業區寫字樓供應持續短缺，同時滬港通正式啟動，將刺激市場對寫字樓物業的需求。仲量聯行商業部主管龐定勤表示，隨着香港經濟穩定增長，預期寫字樓租務需求於2015年將持續改善。

他指，花旗集團購入觀塘One Bay East東座全幢商廈，已令部分跨國銀行重新檢討在香港佔用寫字樓的長遠選擇，部分機構已開始在非核心商業區物色寫字樓。儘管明年甲級寫字樓新供應達到220萬平方呎，但核心商業區寫字樓供應仍然緊絀，大部分新供應位於非核心商業區，預期主要商業區寫字樓租金於2015年將上升0至5%，東九龍寫字樓因新供應較大，租金將繼續面對下調壓力。

中原（工商舖）董事總經理潘志明對明年寫字樓市場看好，他預計隨着「滬港通」正式啟動及金管局宣布放寬人民幣兌換限額等利好消息帶動，內地龐大的資金將陸續湧入本港，同時外資企業亦更積極於本港設立據點作為進入內地市場的跳板，刺激業界對寫字樓物業的需求，帶動投資氣氛轉熱，相信今年商廈物業價格有望上升10%至20%。

投資寫字樓租金回報穩

林浩文亦相信今年的寫字樓交投將持續活躍，「我覺得商廈會更活躍的原因，是在現有印花稅下，住宅的價錢已好貴、舖位價格動輒數億元，不是人人買得起；車位方面，地理位置優質的不是太多，市場其實真的有好多錢，但沒有太多投資機會及渠道，如果市場沒有太大變化，利率不是加得太多，市場資金一定要搵地方去投資，寫字樓會是其中一個投資項目，是由於其租金穩定，支持回報，同時空置率低，因此租金仍有增長空間。」

「港島區寫字樓供應量十分有限，未來兩三年比較多的供應主要集中於九龍東、黃竹坑地區，我相信投資者對這市場是有興趣，買賣交投會持續。」他估計，今年核心地區如中環、金鐘的甲級寫字樓今年價錢及租金仍會有5%升幅。

他相信，非核心區的寫字樓仍有5%升幅，但部分地區租金可能會有5%下調壓力，他解釋：「這由於部分非核心區（如九龍東、港島南、荃灣等地）的寫字樓是由小業主持有，這些小業主的持貨能力不及大業主強，由於要支付按揭，可能會較急於將單位租出去，租金控制較難。」

林浩文估計，今年寫字樓市場將有兩大特色：一、發展商持續拆售寫字樓。二、投資者購入具增值空間的整幢寫字樓。他預期，今年九龍東仍會有多個發展商拆售寫字樓，「由於香港寫字樓的價錢愈來愈高，要整幢買入涉及金額甚大，成交不會太活躍，只有大型金融機構才有能力買到；反觀拆售的寫字銀碼較細，客源較多。同時政府早已說明會發展九龍東，我相信投資者仍會繼續買入寫字樓作長綫投資用途。」

銀座式商廈租金可更高

市場有部分買家喜愛購入銀座式的商廈，如去年初時，里昂證券以18億元購入羅素街8號Shama服務式住宅後，將14層樓面改裝成舖位拆售，市場反應熱烈，火速沽清，價錢亦創銅鑼灣新高。林浩文指：「如該物業純用作收租用途，租金收入穩定，就未必適合部分投資者的胃口，能夠吸引到他們買入的，一定有其誘因，如羅素街8號，項目拆售後具資產增值空間，並可透過租客重組優化租金，事實上大家的着眼點並不是看現在的租金水平，而是看之後的租金增長潛力。」

他續稱，如投資者購入寫字樓後可更改其用途，即改為銀座式商廈，該類商廈的租金較高，「普通一幢位於九龍東寫字樓，其租金約20餘至30元，如果改成銀座式商廈，租金可高達40餘至50元。」

展望2015年，林浩文最看好核心區甲級寫字樓表現，「我覺得升幅較穩定的一定是中環及金鐘，最主要的是中環，因為該區的空置率已跌至3.6%至3.7%，超甲級的寫字樓空置率已跌近2%，我相信明年會持續，因為要搬走已經搬走了。」

很多客戶總是要求在香港服務式辦公室，中環服務式辦公室，尖沙咀服務式辦公室時下。但為什麼？它是越來越普遍，因為服務式辦公室能夠提供全方位的服務在裝有裝飾，家具，全包，電話服務，wifi上網服務......等方面。弘進物業提供專業的服務，為客戶租用這為租戶提供良好的質量服務式辦公室的服務不錯，質量好商務中心。

很多客户总是要求在香港服务式办公室，中环服务式办公室，尖沙咀服务式办公室时下。但为什么？它是越来越普遍，因为服务式办公室能够提供全方位的服务在装有装饰，家具，全包，电话服务，wifi上网服务......等方面。弘进物业提供专业的服务，为客户租用这为租户提供良好的质量服务式办公室的服务不错，质量好商务中心。

There are lots of clients always asking for serviced office in Hong Kong, serviced office in Central, serviced office in Tsim Sha Tsui nowadays. But why? It's is more and more common as because the serviced office is able to provide full range of service in terms of fitted decoration, furniture, all inclusive package, telephone service, wifi internet service ...etc. Regent Property provides professional service to clients to rent nice and good quality business centre which offer good quality serviced office service for tenant.

中環, 皇后大道中2號 

長江集團中心 是香港中環區的甲級寫字樓，特點為樓高為中環甲級商廈中最高。另大量金融機構公司在租用此中環寫字樓名廈。租寫字樓 - Regent!

PACIFIC PALISADES TOWER 12 (寶馬山花園 第12座)

寶馬山花園 為北角半山豪宅，受很多本地租樓買樓的富豪歡迎。

服務式辦公室 是有裝修及服務的辦公室。香港很多海外公司來港設立公司都十分喜歡租用這此服務式寫字樓。

 香港寫字樓出租, 出租寫字樓香港是十分廣, 而且很多HONG KONG OFFICE都是很好的寫字樓

香港甲級寫字樓, 是非常好的寫字樓. 沒有更好的租寫字樓方法, 只有甲級寫字樓了.

大家在找寫字樓時, 通常都被香港寫字樓的時候. 買寫字樓也是很好的選擇.

服務式辦公室都是寫字樓的一種, 很多不同的服務式寫字樓更服務式辦公室都是在甲級商廈.

Serviced Office就是服務式辦公室了.

中環寫字樓是最多甲級寫字樓的地方, 有最高級的Serviced office in Hong Kong.

 市場頻錄全幢物業成交。消息指，福利集團標售的中環皇后大道中35號全幢商廈，剛以約16億元沽出，高估值14%，呎價更逾7萬元。原業主持貨44年，物業升值逾千倍。

高價掃貨 料看好舖市前景

福利集團委託測量師行，標售中環皇后大道中35號全幢物業，日前正式截標，據悉接受5份標書，出價頗為理想。消息人士指，業主已選定買家，物業以近16億元易手，較早前估價14億元，高出約14%，成交價頗理想，新買家料為投資者。

物業於1957年落成，地盤面積約為2,805平方呎，現為一幢13層高（包括地庫）的商業大廈。地庫及地下為商舖用途，1至11樓為寫字樓租盤，租客包括有醫務所、洋服公司、工程公司、廣告公司及海外僱傭中心等，總樓面約21,390平方呎，以16億元成交價計，呎價高達7.48萬元，數字上肯定為中環最貴商廈呎價成交。

1970年153萬購 收租至今

據資料顯示，福利集團早於1970年，斥約153萬元購入該廈，一直持有至今，按16億元成交價計，物業於44年間，升值1,044倍

不過，新買家料看中物業舖位以及重建價值，故斥高價購入。物業未用盡地積比，可建之最大面積為42,075平方呎。此外，皇后大道中為國際品牌集中地，舖位價值極高，如gap、A&F及Zara等國際時裝，斥資每月數百萬租金於地段落戶，相信新買家因看好舖位價值，日後或重建成銀座式商廈，提高租金收入。

事實上，皇后大道中屬中環心臟地帶，物業多由老牌家族持有，過往多年極少有業主放售全幢物業，故今次難得有全幢物業標售，吸引財團出高價購入。

福利集團連番標售物業，配合近期樓市復勇，反應理想，全部均獲承接，如上星期標售灣仔福利商業中心商廈及粉嶺安全街工廈，結果泛海以11億元購入灣仔項目，連同粉嶺工廈及是次中環皇后大道中35號全幢，福利集團兩星期內成功套現約31億元。

單計6至7月份，市場上至少錄得逾10宗全幢物業買賣，包括觀塘One Bay East等，另外，近日里昂證券以16億元洽購銅鑼灣Bigfoot Centre全幢，反映大額買賣極為暢旺。租辦公室都很好!

另外，東九龍投資氣氛轉好，發展商亦加價推新盤。億京旗下駿業街56號商廈近日連環錄成交，如22樓B室，面積約1,600平方呎，以約1,600萬元易手，呎價約1萬元。據悉，業主於今日起正式加價，加幅約2至3%。

 【本報特訊】「起動九龍東」令觀塘成功轉型，近年區內多幢商廈相繼落成，其中沿海濱道一帶的商廈更成為市場新焦點，新近錄得多宗全幢或全層的大額成交，呎價更見節節向上，反映市場對新商廈前景充滿信心，進一步刺激區內投資氣氛。有業主趁勢將海濱道萬兆豐中心高層單位推出市場放售，單位可飽覽全維港景致，意向價約5,300萬元。

　　寫字樓租盤表示，該放售單位位於觀塘海濱道133號萬兆豐中心26樓A01室，面積約3,722平方呎，意向價約5,300萬元，折合呎價約14,300元，物業以交吉形式放售。業主在2011年以約2,800萬元向發展商購入物業後一直作長線投資，若今番物業成功以意向價易手，原業主料可帳面獲利約1,500萬元。梁氏補充，該高層單位景觀全無遮擋，可飽覽維港及啟德郵輪碼頭全景，屬區內罕有優質盤。

　　實用率達七成

　　萬兆豐中心位於觀塘海濱長廊旁邊，步行5至10分鐘可即達牛頭角港鐵站；而且屬區內新型商廈，擁玻璃幕牆及寬敞大堂，外型醒目；加上單位實用率達七成，故大廈業主普遍惜售，過去一年僅錄得一宗買賣成交紀錄；而租務則見活躍，過去一年就錄得約40宗成交，當中不乏中資金融機構、實業公司、數據中心等，行業種類多元化。

 香港十大甲級寫字樓是?

1. 國際金融中心

2. 環球貿易中心

3. 力寶中心

4. 皇后大道中9號

5. 信德中心

6. 太古廣場

7. 國際交易廣場

8. 香港會議中心辦公室

9. 時代廣場

10. 太古坊

在香港找甲級寫字樓可參巧以上資料，或致電2522 3031到Regent Property 專業的寫字樓租賃代理查詢。

 Citibank Plaza

花旗銀行廣場 新商務中心 - 金鐘開幕! 到Regent 可以了解全香港寫字樓出租資料, 所有迷利辦公室, 會議室等資料齊全!

每個服務式辦公室的茶水間設計明亮潔淨,也放置了互聯網, 報紙,雜誌,冰箱,微波爐等,讓你一邊享受免費咖啡或茶,一邊閱讀當天新聞.

靈活的會議室租用..會議室高度隔音,亦配備互聯網及視頻設施.從15分鐘到一天.中心也會替客人安排飱飲及其它服務.

對於業務 - 無論大或小，不論本地或全球無論你的情況下，

For business - whatever large or small, whareverlocal or global Whatever your circumstances,

wherever you're based, Business Centre nearby offering serviced office service and high quality business centre services to help your business succeed.

From historic cities to modern business centre parks and transport centres, we offer complete, flexible working wherever you want to be.

Serviced office is all what you need and want for doing business worldwidely.

To find nice serviced office? lets check it out in Regent Property

 Regent Property 是一個領先的房地產公司，在香港專門從事租寫字樓，買寫字樓，寫字樓出租，買房，買樓，租房，租屋和物業投資。在這些年裡，我們不斷追求卓越的專業服務，為您的提供一個合適及全面的服務。

我們的服務包括:

How you find your Hong Kong Office space in Hong Kong or Hong Kong Property in Hong Kong? Ofcourse, all of us wanna to find a good premises, a good place to rent or buy whether is Hong Kong Office or Hong Kong Property. To know more about the specification of Hong Kong Office or Hong Kong Property is very difficult as the information is not then easy to reach out. So thats why Hong Kong Office Consultancy, Regent, is definitly helpful and professional in assisting consumer or buyer to select the best of Hong Kong Office or Hong Kong People. Hence, the tech. of looking for Hong Kong Office or Hong Kong Property, is how to find a profeesional consultancy in order to reach the detail of selected premises. And thats is why Hong Kong Office consultancy is that important to everyone.

香港寫字樓是全世界中樓價最貴的三甲之一，香港寫字樓不論是租寫字樓、寫字樓出租、還是買寫字樓都是價值連城。

不是一般的人都能夠租到好的寫字樓。但有天發現了Regent，才知道租寫字樓是可以這麼方便。

出租寫字樓是一非常困難的事情，幸好有了REGENT，租寫字樓不再困難了。

有誰知道租寫字樓，什麼公司比REGENT好，我答，租寫字樓最好當然是REGENT。

有了這樣方便的服務。真的方便了不少。

多出來不用煩惱租寫字樓的時間，真的可以做更多有用的事情。

Hong Kong Office rents in Central may fall by up to 20 per cent within the next 18 months as the market adjusts to an abundant supply of vacant space in Hong Kong's prime commercial precinct, say some property brokers.

An exodus of tenants to outlying commercial districts where rents are up to 50 per cent lower, combined with a contraction in demand for office space from the banking and finance sector, has left more than one million square feet of grade-A space unlet in the city's core business district, they say.

Mark Bernard, managing director at OfficeAsia TCN Worldwide, which focuses on Hong Kong office leasing, expects grade-A Hong Kong office rents could tumble by 20 per cent over the next 18 months considering the large amount of space available on the market. Many small hedge funds that were formerly able to pay high rents have since been forced by the global financial crisis to close their offices, said Bernard.

"Some office floors in premium grade-A Hong Kong office buildings in Central have remained empty for more than a year because landlords have been reluctant to cut rents," Bernard said.

Denis Ma, local director for Greater Pearl River Delta research at property consultancy and brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle, agreed that a large amount of space remained unlet in Central, but questioned whether this would lead to further big falls in rents since he expected demand could return given the major correction in rents that has already been seen.

Although there was an estimated 1.1 million sq ft of unlet office space, the situation was not as bad as it was in 1998 and in 2003, said Ma.

"In 1998 there was 3.4 million sq ft of Hong Kong office space available for rent, and in 2003 there was some 2.5 million sq ft available," he said. The vacancies in 1998 were aggravated by the Asian financial crisis, and those of 2003 by the release of new Hong Kong office supply in the Two IFC project.

Central tenants have been lured to alternative Hong Kong office accommodation in Causeway Bay and Quarry Bay, where rental agreements are being transacted at rents that are half to two-thirds of Central rents, said agents.

Gary Fok, executive director and head of commercial department at international property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, said the take-up of office space in new lease agreements in Central fell to 174,000 sq ft in the third quarter of this year from 399,000 sq ft in the previous quarter. "The available leasing space now left in the market is equivalent to two-thirds of the space in Two IFC," he said.

The adjustment had changed the profile of the rental market in Central, added Fok. Medium-sized companies that signed up for 5,000 to 7,000 sq ft of space now dominate new lease agreements, whereas banks and financial institutions previously rented tens of thousands of square feet.

Landlords are bracing for the possibility that vacancy rates in Central could spike if Champion Real Estate Investment Trust fails to renew leases with two major tenants.

It is in talks with Citibank and ICBC, which are anchor tenants of Citibank Tower and ICBC Tower, as their leases are due for renewal in October next year.

Average effective office rents in Central were down 23 per cent from the previous peak of HK$125.70 per sq ft two years earlier, at HK$96.70 per sq ft in the third quarter, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield.

Ma at Jones Lang LaSalle said he did not expect further "significant" corrections in Central because rents had already fallen sharply and the vacancies were confined to a few buildings.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Central office rents seen falling 20pc in 18 months

A digital technology company focusing on the events industry is setting up an office in Hong Kong to better serve its clients in Asia.

The announcement comes as UK-based GenieConnect also secured a parnership with exhibition organiser association UFI to develop mobile apps for its future events.

Giles Welch, CEO of GenieConnect, says the new office will enable the company to work more effectively within the same time zone and meet the growing demand for event technology..

“We have the sales and client services in place to ensure we can meet demands in this area and opening this Hong Kong Office will mean we have the resources and cover the time zone to support our customers fully. Thus, we can continue to supply event organisers with technology that enhance and personalize attendee experience and collect actionable event insight,” says Welch.

Genie Connect provides engagement solutions through apps and web portals for event organisers, corporations and associations to measure and improve attendee experience. Their tools also drive matchmaking, networking and one-to-one meeting management and automated event marketing.

Welch says the Hong Kong office is a direct result of the company’s growing customer base and rising demand for intelligent event technology in Asia.

Paul Woodward, UFI managing director noted that members consider networking a key priority at  events. “We’re excited at the ease for developing business contacts that is afforded by theGenieConnect app and desktop portal. Whether a member is using an iPhone, Android or desktop PC, this new service will facilitate connections among old UFI friends and new business contacts.”

GenieConnect was established in 2010 and has since provided digital solutions for over 1,000 events across the world.  This year, it won the EIBTM Technology Watch award.

Hong Kong Film Festival 2013 series starts in Hamburg (with photos)
************************************************************

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) embarked on its journey to stage Hong Kong Office Film Festivals in Central and Eastern Europe. More than 200 guests from the government, cultural and business sectors attended the reception in Kommunales Kino Metropolis yesterday (October 8, Hamburg time) to celebrate the opening of the Hong Kong Film Festival in Hamburg from October 8 to 14. Following the reception, the opening film "Floating City", an intriguing melodrama directed by Yim Ho and starring Hong Kong movie stars, Aaron Kwok and Charlie Young, delighted the audience.

     In co-operation with Kommunales Kino Metropolis, the HKETO Berlin presents seven contemporary Hong Kong movies at this year's edition of the Film Festival including the 1930 gangster epic "The Last Tycoon", the touching independent production "Fig" and the award-winning thriller "Cold War". In 2012, 16 Hong Kong movies won international awards, among them "Cold War", "Vulgaria" and "The Silent War", all to be screened in the coming days. At the 68th Venice International Film Festival, the film "A Simple Life" received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for Deanie Ip and Wong Kar-wai's epic martial arts drama "The Grandmaster" was selected as the opening movie at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival 2013.

     In his welcome remarks, the Director of HKETO Berlin, Mr Ivan Lee, encouraged Hamburg's film production companies and filmmakers to take advantage of the unique opportunities in Hong Kong: "Hong Kong is embracing creative input of both East and West. I encourage German companies, not least those of you in the creative industries, to use Hong Kong as the super-connector between China and the rest of the world."

     Mr Lee further emphasised the importance of the strengthening collaboration between Hong Kong's film industry and Mainland China's film studios: "Hong Kong office offers technical know-how and great actors while benefiting from Mainland China's financial and location resources". This co-operation is supported by the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which expands Hong Kong's access to the Mainland's movie market. Hong Kong also regularly hosts important film-related events such as the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market. They are usually held in March or April every year.

     Another Hong Kong Film Festival will be held in Berlin from November 14 to 17. Furthermore, the HKETO Berlin will support the Hong Kong focuses of the Five Flavours Film Festival in Warsaw (November 4 to 11) and the FILMASIA in Prague (November 28 to December 1) this year.

     For the programme of Hong Kong Film Festival in Hamburg, please refer to www.hketoberlin.gov.hk/download/pdf/HongKong_FilmFestival_Hamburg_Programm_2013.pdf

About the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin

     The HKETO Berlin is the official HKSAR Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.

 

Ends/Thursday, October 10, 2013
Issued at HKT 01:41

NNNN

Rocky Chan Lok-ki of Ming Kei argues the affirmative side.
Photos: Nora Tam/SCMP

 

Team line wins the day for Ming Kei College in Hong Kong property debate

 

By Wong Yat-hei

 

One of the most discussed topics recently has been whether Hong Kong property should be reserved for Hongkongers.

Debaters from CCC Ming Kei College and Ying Wa Girls' School met in the third round of the 14th Nesta-SCMP debating competition to debate the motion "that only residents should be permitted to buy housing in Hong Kong".

The team of Form Five students from Ming Kei - Cynthia Chan Hei-yi, Joe Law Yiu-man and Rocky Chan Lok-ki - supported the motion, and the team from Ying Wa - Mathilda Kwong Yuan-shang, Hilda To Hing-ka and Shirley Lam Hiu-tung - took the negative side.

The debate was held at CCC Ming Kei College on February 5.

Stephen Farmer, a teacher from Pui Tak Canossian College, was the adjudicator. After both teams produced convincing arguments, Farmer awarded the victory to Ming Kei because they had a clear team line and stronger teamwork.

"The first speaker did a good job giving the team line, and the other speakers were able to further develop this with convincing arguments," he said. "The first speaker of the negative side did not come up with a team line."

The definition of "residents" in the motion was a key to the affirmative side's more convincing argument. The negative side argued that limiting foreigners' rights to buy property in Hong Kong amounted to discrimination.

But the point was quickly shot down by the affirmative side, who defined the term "residents" as people who work and live in Hong Kong. "We are not discriminating against people from any background or race," said Joe Law, Ming Kei's second speaker. "Residents can come from anywhere in the world, as long as they are legally living and working in Hong Kong."

The issue of whether it was fair to allow only residents to buy flats was another point that both sides discussed in depth. The affirmative side said only local residents who had contributed to the economy of Hong Kong should be allowed to buy property. They condemned foreign speculators for pushing up property prices at the expense of local residents.

The negative side rebutted this, saying it was unfair to blame high property prices on foreign speculators, because there were many local speculators in the housing market, as well. They also pointed out that foreign buyers made up only a small percentage of property investors and eliminating them would do little to lower property prices.

The contest, which is sponsored by The Edge Learning Centre, is organised by the Native English Speaking Teachers' Association, and the South China Morning Post.
 

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Regent Property | Hong Kong Property | Hong Kong Office | Hong Kong Apartment

The lump-sum land-premium system should be replaced with a scheme whereby rental income is collected from leaseholders

In his budget speech earlier this year, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah painted a grim picture of Hong Kong's economic future, and of the outlook for the government's finances.

"With an increase in the number of the elderly, a shrinking working population, reduction in the number of taxpayers and decelerated economic growth, I expect that the growth of government revenue will drop substantially if our tax regime remains unchanged," he warned.

"Meanwhile, expenditure on welfare and health care will soar. We may not be able to make ends meet."

Tsang quickly ruled out plugging the gap by drawing down the government's accumulated reserves, which if you include the exchange fund's accumulated surplus and the sums squirrelled away in accounts like the lotteries fund, now amount to some HK$1.5 trillion.

"Recurrent expenditure must be funded by sustainable revenue," Tsang declared, saying he would set up a committee "to explore ways to make more comprehensive planning for our public finances".

Many observers concluded that Tsang was paving the way for another government attempt to impose a goods and services tax on the city.

But there are far better ways to retool Hong Kong's revenue regime to meet the demands of future health and welfare spending than hitting the population with a tax that it has already been rejected once before.

One obvious way would be to change the way the government raises money from Hong Kong property market.

Last year, the government raised HK$85 billion, a fifth of its total revenues, from property sales and land premium payments, the fees developers pay for a change in land use.

Yet, although these are major income sources, the government is reluctant to use the money, classifying it as capital revenue, and insisting it can only be spent on capital projects.

That might have been a sensible attitude in the 1970s, when Hong Kong badly needed infrastructure investment.

But these days the artificial distinction between recurring and capital revenues looks out of date, leading the government to lock away vast sums of public money while prompting officials to waste a fortune on gold-plated construction projects like the Zhuhai bridge, for which there is little, if any, demand.

Instead of booking its land revenues as capital income - which it then fritters away on wasteful investments that will never generate a positive economic return - the government should move away from demanding up-front lump sums from developers and towards collecting steady revenue streams over the whole lifetime of property projects.

There are several ways it could do this. One suggestion is for the government to turn to a property value tax, which would be set as a percentage of current market value, to be paid annually by property owners. In effect this would mean raising existing property rates from their current 5 per cent of annual rental value to, say, 20 per cent.

That would provide a steady income stream, and with the gain in recurring revenues offset by lower land premiums, it would encourage Hong Kong property barons to develop more of their land banks.

But there are disadvantages to the idea. Firstly, replacing a hidden tax on householders, which is what land premiums amount to, with a visible tax in the form of higher rates would be highly unpopular, even if there was no net change in government revenues.

What's more, the government would be able to change the tax rate arbitrarily, which would discourage private investment. And any investments that increased nearby land values, like a new MTR rail line, would penalise existing owners who chose not to cash in.

A better solution would be the one outlined by governance watchdog David Webb, who three years ago called for the government to abandon lump-sum land-premium payments in favour of collecting regular rental income from leaseholders.

With the terms fixed in advance, annual rents would not be subject to arbitrary change (although they would still be linked to rateable values).

In addition, by lowering the barriers to entry in the real estate market, switching from premium payments to regular rents would increase competition among developers and, consequently, reduce home prices.

Above all, by emphasising rents over up-front lump-sum payments, officials would no longer be sucking money out of Hong Kong's economy either to lock it away as unneeded capital reserves or to waste it on unnecessary building projects.

Instead, the government would secure a steady revenue stream which is largely immune to swings in the economic cycle; just what it needs to fund the future welfare obligations John Tsang is so worried about.

Source from www.scmp.com

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Graft trial adjourns for billionaire Kwok brothers

The billionaire Kwok brothers’ corruption trial was adjourned on Friday until January to allow the prosecution more time to gather evidence in Hong Kong's highest-profile graft case in decades.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested the tycoons in March in one of the agency’s biggest investigations since it was set up in 1974 to root out widespread corruption in the government and police.

Thomas and Raymond Kwok run Sun Hung Kai Properties, the world’s second-largest Hong Kong property developer by stock-market value. The Kwok family is Hong Kong’s second wealthiest after that of Li Ka-shing.

Rafael Hui Hui Si-yan, the No 2 official in government from 2005 to 2007, was also arrested in connection with the case, as were Thomas Chan, an executive in charge of land acquisition at Sun Hung Kai, and Francis Kwan, a former banker.

They are charged with a total of eight offences including conspiracy to offer advantages to a public servant between June 2000 and January 2009. The ICAC said the offences involved payments and unsecured loans totalling over HK$35 million (US$4.9 million).

The five spoke briefly in court on Friday to say they understood that the case was being adjourned until January 25, to be heard at the Court of First Instance.

No pleas were taken and bail was extended.

The stakes are high for the Kwoks and the government, with Sun Hung Kai’s share price having fallen sharply since the scandal broke, while Hong Kong’s reputation for integrity has been hit by charges also brought against its former chief secretary.

Prosecutors will likely seek swift progress to bolster the government’s anti-graft credentials amid creeping public concerns of overly cosy ties and accommodative policies towards property tycoons.

A long-running saga within the dynastic Kwok family boiled over in 2008 when elder brother Walter was ousted as chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties by his brothers amid claims he had bipolar affective disorder and was not fit to lead the company.

The firm, previously regarded as one of Hong Kong’s best-run companies and known for its quality apartments, responded to the arrests by promoting two executives and two of the Kwoks’ sons as alternate directors.

Source from http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1059470/hong-kongs-billionaire-kwok-brothers-face-court-graft-charges

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 Soaring rents are forcing cinema operators to downsize, relocate, or even shut down in prime districts, such as Causeway Bay.

And the immediate outlook for the industry is likely to get even bleaker as some landlords opt not to renew tenancies of cinemas on ground- or lower-level floors in shopping malls, in order to relet the space to luxury goods retailers who can pay much higher rents, letting agents said.

UA Cinema Circuit is reopening on the 12th floor of Times Square in Causeway Bay, having failed to secure the renewal of its lease on lower-floor premises with a street-level entrance; and at the IFC mall in Central, Palace IFC cinema and restaurants had little choice but to downsize or be edged out by luxury goods retailers after rents were raised by up to 40 per cent as leases came up for renewal.

"Put simply, a cinema operator can't keep up with rental spikes along Russell Street in front of Times Square, which is now full of shops selling luxury goods mainly to tourists from China," said Jason Wan, senior account manager at Centaline Property Agency.

"If you were a landlord would you rent high-premium premises on the street level to a cinema operator or go instead for luxury- goods retailers who can pay much higher rents?

Besides, times have changed," he said, and rather than pay more than HK$100 to watch a 3D movie in a cinema, more and more people were now opting to watch movies in the comfort of their own homes with their family members.

But cinema operators dismissed the dim view of the sector's prospects taken by agents.

MCL Multiplex Cinema general manager June Wong said cinemas would continue to play a vital role in society as going to the movies was a form of social activity that would always appeal to many Hong Kong people. "The tradition among family members and friends of having fun together by eating out and going to the movies will always be there," she said.

For landlords it was useful to have a cinema in their tenant mix, because they drew crowds, thereby helping generate customer traffic in the shopping malls in which they are situated, she said. "Before or after going to the movies, many movie-goers do their shopping or dining, and landlords recognise this crowd-drawing power of cinemas."

UA Cinema Circuit general manager Chan Chi-leung said downsizings and relocations were actually a blessing in disguise for cinema operators, contrary to many expectations.

"A relocation or revamp always uplifts cinemas, giving them a new life and refreshing the whole establishment."

Relocating to upper floors did not have a negative impact on box office takings, Chan added, because patrons did not mind going up to a higher floor, especially if they had become accustomed to visiting a cinema in a particular building.

Chan cited the case of the firm's cinema in Windsor House in Causeway Bay opposite Park Lane Hotel.

The facility used to have seating for more than 1,000 people, but this has since been reduced to just over 200.

"We've reduced the number of seats, but with new installations, including seats, projection equipment and a sound system, our Windsor House cinema enjoys the highest attendance among movie houses in Causeway Bay today," he said.

Rising rents were also not the sole reason for cinemas to move to upper floors of shopping malls. "Cinemas actually don't need to be situated on lower floors. If people want to see a movie in their favourite cinema, they'll simply just go," Chan said.

Chan declined to comment on media reports that UA Cinema used to pay a premium monthly rent for its lower-floor premises in Times Square.

"Ten years ago it was necessary to have a cinema on a lower floor. But now that customers are used to going to our cinema there, they won't stop going and this is good for everyone. Our relocation will enable us to update our technology and create new facilities, and this is good for all moviegoers," he said.

Rosella Lo, an account manager at Hong Kong Property, agreed that cinemas helped attract people to shopping malls, but said many people were averse to going to upper floors to visit a cinema.

"Many will only be enticed to visit a cinema on the upper floors if they have a concentration of restaurants, which is what Times Square offers," she said.

Lo said commercial rentals in Causeway Bay were now stagnant due largely to the property cooling measures adopted by the government early this year.

She predicted that rents would remain largely unchanged in the Hong Kong Apartment,, a phenomenon which will be favourable to retailers.

Looking ahead, Hong Kong Property, Wong said she did not foresee the entry of any new cinemas in the urban areas over the next few years. "No large shopping malls are being built in the urban areas so there won't be any new supply of cinemas," she said.

While it was possible to convert old commercial or industrial buildings to accommodate cinemas, this was easier said than done.

"In the absence of new shopping malls, this is an option that we might consider. However, we need various provisions, like sufficient ceiling height and a good configuration, especially stadium-type seating," she said.

source from: www.scmp.com/property

 As a Hong Kong property reporter, I often receive questions from readers and friends about the Hong Kong property market.

The most common question is whether now is the best time to buy a flat, but a 29-year-old man asked me recently whether he should spend his HK$1 million in savings on buying a home or starting up a new business.

"Since I am a fan of music and coffee, it has been my dream to open a café where people can enjoy music and coffee together," he said.

"I also hope to sell musical instruments and CDs at the café, if possible. I have been working and saving very hard to pursue this dream.

"But when I discuss the plan with my parents, they are strongly opposed to it, saying retail rents in Hong Kong Property are too high, and thus the profit margin for a café will be too low.

"They say I should use the money to buy a flat, instead."

It is quite typical for Hong Kong parents to prefer their children to buy a flat than take the risk of starting a business.

But let's look more carefully at the two options.

First, what kind of home can one buy with a HK$1 million down payment in the present Hong Kong Property market?

Assuming he pays about 30 per cent of the flat's price as a down payment, he will be able to borrow enough to buy a unit priced at HK$3 million or less.

If he has a stable job and income, he could borrow more money and pay only 10 per cent of the flat price as down payment. Then he would be able to buy a HK$4 million home, for which he would have to make mortgage payments for the next 30 years.

With a budget of HK$3 million to HK$4 million, he could buy a Hong Kong Property, for example, a 30-year-old flat with a gross floor area of about 400 square feet at City One Shatin or a 595 sq ft flat at Yoho Town in Yuen Long.

"It really depends on what he wants to buy a home for - whether it is for his own use or as an investment," said Willy Liu Wai-keung, chief executive of real estate agency Ricacorp Properties.

"If it's for rental income, the yield is now over 3 per cent per annum, which is definitely a better return than putting the money in the bank.

"Starting up a business is about building a career, which can be something totally different. It can generate more income if he is good at it. But if he is just investing money in the business and asks someone to take care of it, it's more like a pure investment, and the profit margin depends on the type of business."

Liu said the rent for upper-floor premises in Causeway Bay or Mong Kok could go as low as HK$30,000 to HK$50,000 per month.

To me, buying a home for long-term investment seems to be the safer option, since I do not think home prices will drop significantly in the long term, while running a business always has its risks.

However, if there were a chance that the music café business was sustainable, I think I would choose to pursue my dream if I were the 29-year-old man. That is an age at which one can face more risks and challenges. It is quite an achievement to have saved HK$1 million by this time, which may imply he can save even more if he continues to work hard. And he could still live with his parents.

If he can find some business partners to share the risks and costs, and ideally start up the business during his leisure time without quitting his job, his HK$1 million could probably be used to run his dream business for a while, as it would cover rent and other costs for about a year.

If the Hong Kong Property business wasn't looking good, he could always shut it down and cut his losses.

So why not?

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Source from: http://www.scmp.com/

Home prices could fall as much as 45 per cent over the next three to five years amid higher property taxes, rising interest rates and a bleak outlook for commercial property, says one real estate agent.

Hong Kong Property, controlled by Midland Holdings, the city's only listed real estate agent, made the bearish forecast yesterday.

"The property market has been severely hurt with sales volumes declining sharply after the introduction of the extra stamp duties," said Jeffrey Ng Chong-yip, senior executive director at Hong Kong Property.

The city will enter an era of higher interest rates once the US Federal Reserve's curbs its stimulus, Ng added.

Over the past 23 years, Hong Kong's mortgage rate has averaged 6.2 per cent, with an affordability ratio of 45.7 per cent. The measure is the ratio of mortgage instalment payments to household income.

If mortgage rates increase from their current 2.3 per cent to 6 per cent, Ng said home prices would have to drop 27 per cent in order to maintain an affordability ratio of 45.7 per cent.

With the government stepping up measures to cool the market, Ng said average monthly transactions in the secondary market could drop to 4,500, a level close to that during Sars in 2003.

"In the worst scenario, home prices will drop by as much as 45 per cent," he said.

The more than 10,000 people who bought homes at peak prices last year risk falling into negative equity, he said.

Meanwhile, property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield forecast growth in rent for grade A offices in Hong Kong to slow to 0.5 per cent in the second half, from 1.4 per cent in the first half. Grade A office take-up would shrink to 1.2 million square feet in the second half from 2.1 million sq ft in the first six months of this year, the firm predicted.

It also said rents in Central would bottom out toward the end of the year or early next year, after declining 3.5 per cent in the second half of this year. Prime grade A offices will drop about 4 per cent in the second half, it forecast.

"Transactions will involve mainly small- and medium-sized companies which want smaller spaces of about 4,000 to 6,000 sq ft only," the firm's head of commercial properties, Gary Fok Cho-ping, said.

Michele Woo Wing-sze, Cushman & Wakefield's head of retail, said retail rents had already peaked. Retailers had become more cautious in the last few months, with fewer new leases in prime locations and higher vacancies in secondary locations.

Thousands of property agents marched to government headquarters at Tamar in Admiralty earlier this month to urge the government to withdraw Hong Kong property market measures designed to curb soaring prices.

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