The Economy | 57
foot in saleable area of individual flats and adopt a reasonable floor numbering system.
The non-residential property market also benefited from the revival in economic activities in 2009. For office space, overall sale prices switched back from decline to increase starting from the second quarter of 2009, though the momentum tapered somewhat towards the end of the year. Comparing the fourth quarter of 2009 with the same period in 2008, prices rose by 15 per cent, but they remained 5 per cent lower than the high in the second quarter of 2008. Analysed by type of office space, prices of Grade A, B and C offices in the fourth quarter were respectively 12 per cent, 14 per cent and 19 per cent higher than a year earlier. Office rentals also trended upwards gradually after bottoming out in the second quarter, but still registered a year-on-year decline of 14 per cent in the fourth quarter. Rentals for Grade A, B and C offices in the fourth quarter of 2009 dropped by 17 per cent, 10 per cent and 5 per cent respectively from a year earlier (Chart 15).
Chart 15
Prices and Rentals of Office Space
(1999=100)
Index
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Price index
Rental index
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2005
2006 |
2007
2008
2009
Prices of office space rallied from the second quarter of 2009, while office
rentals showed a mild rebound.
The market also staged a recovery with regard to shopping space, in tandem with stronger consumer spending. Sale prices jumped by 25 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2009, while rentals edged up by only 2 per cent over the same period. Prices for flatted factory space rose by 10 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2009, though rentals fell by 3 per cent.
On the supply side, completions of private residential flats fell by 18 per cent to 7 160 units in 2009. While completions are expected to rebound to 14 300 units in 2010, these will still be below the annual average of 19 100 units in the past ten years. As to the potential supply of new private residential flats, it is projected that
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58 The Economy
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