Hong Kong Rental Market Boosted by Chinese Taking Up Top Talent Pass Visas

An influx of mainland Chinese taking advantage of a new visa program to work in Hong Kong is helping buoy rents in the city to the highest level in almost two years, reversing a downward trend that started during the pandemic.

Hong Kong saw its population grow by 2%, or 152,000 people, in the past year to June from a year earlier, with government partly attributing the rise to the different talent attraction programs. Almost 26,000 applications for the Top Talent Pass Scheme have been approved as of June, according to government data. The program was introduced in October after the labor force shrank by 140,000 in recent years over a deepening political crackdown and strict pandemic measures that kept the border closed until February. Most of the applicants are from mainland China.