Knight Frank's Global Cities report highlighted the costliest cities in the world for skyscraper rents.
For the fourth year in a row, Hong Kong's skyscrapers rose in the ranks of having the highest rents in the world at US$304 per square feet (psf) per annum.
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The rankings this year has shown that the gap between the rents in Hong Kong and other markets continues to widen. In fact, rents in Hong Kong is 88% higher than in New York, which ranks second on the list and has an annual rent of US$162 psf.
The two are followed by Tokyo at US$140 psf. Completing the top five costliest cities are San Francisco with US$117 psf and London with US$110 psf.
Over the Pacific region, the strong demand and tight vacancy rates have driven Australia's rents upwards. Sydney is the six most expensive city for skyscraper rents, with lease reaching US$107 psf.
Singapore also cracked the top 10, placing ninth with its annual rents of US$66 psf. The Chinese cities of Shanghai and Beijing also sit at the top, ranking eighth and tenth with their rents of US$67 and US$66 psf, respectively.
Knight Frank Asia Pacific Head of Research Nicholas Holt said the demand from Chinese mainland institutions has been a major contributing factor in driving rents upwards in skyscrapers clustered around Central on Hong Kong Island.
"Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo, which stands third in the global list offers skyscraper office space for less
than half the rents that an office occupier would be expected to pay in Hong Kong; while Singapore is less than half of that again," he explained.
He furthered, "Looking forward, with continued interest from occupiers for tall towers offering the best panoramic views, we expect demand for skyscraper office space across the Asia Pacific region to continue to remain robust."
Meanwhile, the index has shown that Toronto's skyscrapers are experiencing the highest rental growth, growing 11.9% to US$58 psf.
Rental growth is also apparent in the cities of New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, expanding at a range between 1.6% to 3.5%.
Knight Frank Global Head of Occupier Services William Beardmore-Gray said it is no coincidence that the top five places in this ranking happen to be world's leading business centres.
"There are cities with far more famous and much taller skyscrapers than London or Hong Kong, that rank lower in the table. These figures are a wake-up call and show that demand for space, and rents, in London's prestigious towers will only hold up if the city continues to be seen as a top-five centre of international commerce," he stated.
