Concrete Analysis | Millennials and mainland Chinese companies are the two big factors in shaping Hong Kong’s property market

Demographics. One of the most important among the world’s current buzzwords. A casual look around reveals demography underlying health care policy, education policy, housing policy, what lines supermarket shelves, and which ads pop up in your Facebook feed.

Hong Kong’s current housing crunch is a crunch as filtered through demographic data that estimated the city’s population would be 9 million by now. Make of that what you like. Demographics are at the heart of that most omnipresent bugbear, big data, which tells landlords they need more experiential retail in their shopping malls.

That the mall in Sai Wan Ho needs more ParknShop and Baleno, and the one a few blocks away in Quarry Bay needs more Fusion and Marks & Spencer. Demographics tell developers residents won’t use the swimming pool as much as they predict, but the function space will always be occupied. Like them or not, demographics are crucial to how we live.

Hong Kong is changing, demographically speaking, and the two most vibrant drivers operating in property markets right now are millennials and firms from mainland China opening offices here. The 35-something set has had a visible and dramatic impact on office rentals, design and function, as evidenced by the rapid rise of co-working space and the willingness of the financial services industry to roll with the punches.

Millennials are often comedy punchlines these days (man buns and artisanal asparagus water will always be funny), but you have them to thank for flexible work patterns, and more welcoming offices that don’t discourage communicating with colleagues.