銀行業者撤離 香港高端住宅租金下降
Layoffs of highly paid bankers are causing cracks in Hong Kong's luxury-apartment market, by some measures the world's most expensive.
高薪銀行業者離去令香港的豪華公寓市場出現鬆動。從某些指標看，這些公寓是世界上最昂貴的。One of the city's leading moving companies, Crown Relocations, reports the number of people it's moving into Hong Kong this year is down by about a quarter from a year ago, while the number it's moving out is up by about a quarter. The folks moving out have needed lots of cargo space, which the company has interpreted as meaning they're mid- and senior-level executives, a spokeswoman said.
香港引領市場的搬家公司之一嘉柏安居(Crown Relocations)反映，今年搬進香港的客戶數量同比下降了四分之一左右，而搬出香港的客戶數量則上升約四分之一。一位發言人說，搬出香港的人們需要有很大的載貨空間，據公司的理解，這意味着他們屬於中高層管理人員。Every summer, in what's dubbed 'peak season,' Hong Kong's new expatriate hires shop for accommodation before they bring their families from overseas for the new school term. Real-estate agents welcome these big spenders.
每逢夏季高峯期，新來香港的企業外派人員都會尋訪住處，然後把家屬從海外帶過來，迎接新的學期。房地產中介公司非常歡迎這些出手闊綽的房客。
This year, however, the summer rush has been anything but: Demand from high-end tenants has been lackluster, according to brokers. Uncertainties in Western economies are trickling down to Asia, where financial firms have been cutting staff and making the accommodation allowances for high-ranking employees less generous.
然而據中介公司說，今年夏季高峯期高端租戶需求不旺。西方經濟前景的不確定性正在向亞洲地區慢慢滲透。在亞洲，金融企業一直在裁員，並降低高級員工的居住補貼。Agents expect the market to quiet down further as the year draws to an end. That's sapped demand for the city's largest and best-located residences.
中介公司預計年內市場還會進一步趨冷。這削弱了市場對位置上佳的大面積住宅的需求。'Landlords are keeping their asking price but are more willing to negotiate now,' said Patrick Lam, Centaline Property Agency's District Associate Director.
中原地產代理有限公司(Centaline Property Agency)區級聯席董事林少禮說，業主要價沒變，但現在更願意討價還價了。The rent drops so far in the high-end segment have been real, though modest beside the increases of previous years.
今年以來高端住宅租金的下降是實實在在的，不過和前幾年的漲幅比起來並不算大。'Things may be shifting to be slightly more favorable to renters, but it's still a landlord's market,' said Edward Farrelly, Head of Research at CBRE.
世邦魏理仕研究部負責人範偉年(Edward Farrelly)說，情況的變化或許稍稍更加有利於租戶，但這仍然是一個出租方市場。For large apartments偉1,080 square feet to 1,720 square feet偉on Hong Kong Island, rents in June were down 5% from a year earlier, to 386 Hong Kong dollars (about US$50) per square foot, figures from the government's Rating and Valuation Department show. But that's after rents rose 50% between April 2009 and August 2011, when they hit a record high.
特區政府差餉物業估價署(Rating and Valuation Department)的數據顯示，6月份香港島面積在100平方米到160平方米的大房租金爲每平方米386港元（約合50美元），同比下降5%。但在這之前，從2009年4月到租金創紀錄的2011年8月，房租漲幅達到50%。Rents for smaller apartments have kept climbing, according to the government figures. For instance, a diminutive, 430-square foot apartments rented for 2% more in June than the year earlier.
政府數據顯示，小房租金仍在攀升。 比如6月份40平米小戶型的租金就同比上漲了2%。'Those who would've gone for apartments that cost more than HK$100,000 would now rent apartments that cost HK$60,000 to HK$80,000,' said Jackson Chiu, a manager at Land and Fortune Realty Limited.
利福行租務有限公司(Land and Fortune Realty Limited)經理趙偉鳴說，原來要租10萬港元以上房子的人，現在會租6萬港元到8萬港元的房子。Real-estate brokerage Colliers said in a report that its clients shopping for accommodation this year don't include many bankers. Companies outside the finance sector have continued to bring in expatriates偉but their housing budgets 'have not yet matched those from the finance sector,' according to the Colliers research.
房地產經紀公司高力國際(Colliers)的一份報告說，今年尋訪住宅的客戶當中，銀行從業者並不是很多。據這份報告說，非金融企業仍在向香港派送人員，但它們的居住預算還沒有趕上金融業的預算。Monthly rents for a house on Hong Kong Island's south side, which faces the sea, go for HK$125,000 a month (US$16,000) while those in the affluent Peak neighborhood cost at least HK$185,000, according to brokers and listings. For such pricey property, some landlords偉especially corporate property owners with hundreds of apartments to lease偉are offering inducements such as months of free rent.
經紀商數據和掛牌價格顯示，朝海的港島南側月租多達12.5萬港元（約合1.6萬美元），而在富裕的山頂區，月租至少爲18.5萬港元。對於這類昂貴的物業，部分房東（特別是有幾百套房子出租的公司房東）推出了免租金幾個月的優惠。Big landlords 'can offer rent-free apartments, free car park spaces to attract tenants,' said Mr. Chiu, of Land and Fortune Realty.
趙偉鳴說，爲吸引租客，大房東可能會提供免租金的房子和免費的停車位。
