Jones Lang LaSalle: Retail sales of HK$20 million or above in Hong Kong recorded a slight improvement of around HK$8 billion in the first 8 months

The Zhitong Finance App learned that store transactions have improved recently. Deng Jieying, senior director of JLL's capital markets department, pointed out that as store prices have been drastically reduced, capital from various places, including local and overseas, has increased interest in entering the market, while properties under HK$100 million in the core area have also been contested for multiple funding. According to JLL statistics, retail sales of HK$20 million or more involved about HK$20 billion in 2022. Since then, they have all declined in recent years, with a record of around HK$11.2 billion last year. As for the first eight months of this year, about HK$8 billion was recorded, and the momentum has improved slightly. Tang Kit-ying said that the investment climate has improved further in the past two months, such as Tsim Sha Tsui and Central, all of which have recorded retail transactions.

Regarding the retail market, she believes that the biggest difference from the office and residential markets is that almost all of the buyers are investors, which best reflects the future market. “Among recent buyers, there are small and medium-sized investors, new buyers, family funds that collect rent, and in addition, there are also Southeast Asian consortia, which are looking for properties with stable returns.” As an example, she recently launched a store in Causeway Bay, with a market value of about HK$50 to HK$60 million. It has received many inquiries and bids. “As long as it is in the core area, the silver code is less than HK$100 million, and the response is very good.”

She analyzed that stores can attract attention from multiple sources of capital, mainly because prices have dropped 70% since the peak period, while rents in the core area have begun to stabilize. In addition, the return rate has generally reached 4% or more, which is in line with investors' requirements.