Billionaire Builders Hit Hardest By Hong Kong’s Headwinds

Billionaire Builders Hit Hardest By Hong Kong’s Headwinds

This story is part of Forbes' coverage of Hong Kong's Richest 2021. See the full list here. Hong Kong's high-flying real estate sector was hit hard as the pandemic dealt another blow to a market already weakened by the U. S.-China trade conflict and political unrest. Since last year's list, the benchmark Hang Seng Properties index fell 2%, while the main index rose 5%. All of the list's property tycoons suffered losses in their real estate holdings, but several of them were propped up by non-property investments. Retail and office suffered the most, hammering the wealth of the list's property tycoons. The absence of overseas spenders coupled with local shoppers anxiously tightening their purse strings pushed down prime retail rents 28% in 2020 from a year earlier, according to Colliers. "The story in retail is relatively simple," says Rosanna Tang, head of research for Colliers International in Hong Kong. The work-from-home trend similarly emptied offices, where average rents fell 16% in 2020, according to Colliers. "The main theme among office occupiers is cost optimization," says Tang, as tenants fled Hong Kong's pricey central business district to cheaper outlying areas. Among those most impacted in the office sector was Pan Sutong