香港寫字樓租金下跌 仍居全球榜首

Hong Kong's stratospheric office rents have shrunk in the past year, but the city is still the most expensive place in the world to set up shop.

2012年6月21日在香港，一名房地產中介人員在工作，他周圍貼滿了房屋租售的廣告。香港長期居高不下的寫字樓租金在過去一年有所縮水，但香港仍然是全球辦公空間成本最高的城市。

That's the latest finding from CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate firm, which found that it costs a whopping $249 per square foot to rent office space in the city's central business district. And renters who lock in that rate might count themselves lucky, compared to a year ago. Amid global economic uncertainties, the cost of renting in central Hong Kong has actually slid by 17% over the past year the sharpest rate of decline seen in the 133 global office markets CBRE tracks.

這是商業地產諮詢公司世邦魏理仕(CB Richard Ellis)的最新調查結果。該公司發現，在香港的中央商務區租用辦公空間的成本高達每平方英尺249美元（約合每平方米2,680美元）。和一年前相比，鎖定這一價格的承租人應該感到幸運。在全球經濟前景不明朗的情況下，過去一年香港市中心的寫字樓租金實際下滑了17%。在世邦魏理仕所跟蹤的全球133個寫字樓租賃市場中，這一降幅是最大的。

The second-most expensive market was London'sWest End, where office space costs $220 per square foot to rent.

全球第二貴的寫字樓租賃市場是倫敦西區。其寫字樓租金高達每平方英尺220美元（約合每平方米2,370美元）。

Hong Kong's sticker shock comes as no surprise, given the city's status as a financial hub and proximity to mainland China. Lack of supply has also helped ratchet up prices in recent years, says Rhodri James, CBRE's executive director of office services. Just 0.4% of Hong Kong's landmass has so far been developed for commercial use. The city's government, which owns all land in the city, has been wary of releasing more supply onto the market for years, fearful of triggering a fall in prices such as that seen during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

鑑於香港的金融中心地位以及毗鄰中國內地的優勢，其天價寫字樓租金不足爲奇。世邦魏理仕寫字樓服務部執行董事簡儒德(Rhodri James)說，近幾年寫字樓供應不足也助推了租金的上漲。到目前爲止香港陸地面積中僅有0.4%被開發用於商業用途。擁有香港全部土地的特區政府多年來對於向市場投放更多土地持謹慎態度，擔心這會引發類似1997年亞洲金融危機期間的價格下跌。

Still, lower office rents can help boost Hong Kong's overall competitive appeal, says Mr. James. 'Far from diminishing the city's status as Asia's financial hub,' he says, falling office rents make Hong Kong 'more competitive and relatively more attractive for international tenants.'

簡儒德說，儘管如此，寫字樓租金下降有助於提高香港的整體競爭實力。他說，寫字樓租金下降遠不會削弱香港作爲亞洲金融中心的地位，這隻會令香港更具競爭力，在國際承租人眼中相對更具吸引力。

Hong Kong's newly sworn in leader, Leung Chun-ying, says that he intends to boost land supply during his five-year term, part of an overall plan to diversify the city's economy, which is dominated by finance and tourism.

香港新上任特首樑振英說，他打算在五年任期內增加土地供應，作爲實現香港經濟多元化整體方案的一部分。目前金融業和旅遊業主導了香港經濟。

Despite slowing growth on mainland China, office rents there also leapt in the past year, vaulting by 49% in Beijing's Jianguomen business district and 40% in Guangzhou. Among the world's top 10 priciest office rental markets, CBRE notes, six can be found in Asia, including in two business districts in Hong Kong and Beijing, as well as parts of Tokyo and New Delhi.

儘管中國內地經濟增速放緩，但過去一年內地寫字樓租金卻大幅上升（北京建國門商圈的寫字樓租金漲49%，廣州漲40%）。世邦魏理仕指出，在全球前十大最貴寫字樓租賃市場中，亞洲就佔據了六個，其中包括位於香港和北京的兩個商務區，以及東京和新德里的部分地區。