〈The Standard, Apr 15, 2023〉With tourists returning, drugstores have made a comeback on main streets in Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok and Sheung Shui.

They are renting at an average 30 percent lower than prepandemic levels, after having left these areas, which have been popular with tourists, for three years.

Over the past two months, at least 30 shops have been leased in these areas.

〈The Standard, Apr 14, 2023〉British house-building fell at the sharpest pace last month since May 2020 as higher interest rates outweighed an easing of supply-chain difficulties that bolstered other types of construction.

The S&P Global/CIPS construction purchasing managers' index fell to 50.7 in March, a bigger drop than the fall to 53.5 forecast by economists, after jumping to 54.6 in February.

"Despite worries about the near-term outlook for housing activity, expectations for total construction output during the year ahead were relatively upbeat in March," said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

〈Hong Kong Business, Apr 13, 2023〉It will take 29 years and five months for workers in Hong Kong to earn their first million, data from Picodi showed.

The average wage of workers in Hong Kong is $22,281 (US$2,839).

Hongkongers are the 16th fastest to earn their first million.

Workers in Hong Kong can earn their first million faster than workers in the United Kingdom (29 years and nine months), Japan (33 years and six months), France (34 years and 1 month), and South Korea (36 years and seven months).

Meanwhile, workers in Asian countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia are amongst those who will take the longest to earn a million at 270 years and 247 years and five months, respectively.

〈Asian Post, Apr 12, 2023〉Grade A office rents continued to decline in the first quarter of 2023, contracting by 1.3% QoQ.

According to Colliers, the 3.4% drop in rents in Island East drove the overall decline in rents during the quarter.

The real estate expert said landlords in the Island East “became more flexible in their negotiations.”

The rest of the sub-markets also saw a decline in rents. Rents in Wan Chai / Causeway Bay, Central / Admiralty, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Kowloon East dropped by 1.4% QoQ, 1.3% QoQ, 0.5%, and 0.4%, respectively.

〈Asian Post, Apr 11, 2023〉Despite China’s border reopening, investment deals in Hong Kong declined 16% year-on-year and 15% quarter-to-quarter to $9.1b in the first quarter of 2023, a Colliers study showed.

This is because buyers were still cautious due to interest hikes, which bested the effects of economic revival in China, as stated in the report.

Only 15 deals were made, with distressed sales and high-yield premises remaining the most sought-after.

Mainland tourists returned and supported the retail sector, but most deals were below $200m, suggesting that most buyers are individual investors.

The in-demand industrial sector became subdued as the expectation gap grew between buyers and landlords.