China’s property heavyweights are turning their attention to Hong Kong’s vibrant real estate market for continued investment. Ann Yuen, property and construction manager for recruitment specialists Michael Page Hong Kong, explores job opportunities for property and construction professionals.
Chinese real estate players have set their sights on Hong Kong with major expansion plans well underway. Government policies on the mainland earlier this year have restricted property development in four major cities in an effort to cool escalating prices. The resulting market slowdown has driven Chinese investors to seek opportunities elsewhere.
China’s depreciation of the yuan has also pushed property firms to invest in other real estate markets to prevent further devaluation of their assets. Because of its mature property landscape, Hong Kong has emerged as a key investment target.
The majority of Chinese real estate investment is in residential projects, such as mass development homes and luxury apartments. To get their foot in the door, Chinese developers have been actively bidding on land plots in Hong Kong, especially within massive property projects such as the new Kai Tak development.
A majority of these investment efforts are joint ventures with top Hong Kong developers. As each development is on such a large scale, a number of specialist skills are required. Hong Kong property developers are needed for their familiarity with local laws and regulations and they often lead the project administration.
Talent crunch
With the spike in activities, the Hong Kong market is currently seeing a shortage of property professionals and this is driving salaries up. The employment landscape is typically candidate-driven as professionals in Hong Kong’s real estate field are highly qualified and are being courted to work in overseas markets such as Burma, Cambodia or Vietnam.
The result is a shortage of talented and qualified property professionals. Firms are actively seeking general practice surveyors to set land valuation and advise on acquisition prices, lead architects to design and develop residential projects, and building services engineers, quantity surveyors, and civil and structural engineers.
Apart from investing in new projects, some Chinese companies are aggressively expanding into the market by acquiring properties from Hong Kong property firms. Therefore, professionals with expertise in property investment and asset management are required so as to manage the new investments. Building architects are also in demand to assist with existing portfolios, the rebranding of buildings, and activities to enhance value and help asset managers sell buildings at a higher price.
Skills in demand
Professionals hired by Chinese property firms are often from the mainland with university education or work experience gained in Hong Kong. They serve as a cultural link able to provide sound recommendations through an established Hong Kong network. Strong stakeholder management skills are also required as most senior-level directors are still based in China offices.
But the main challenge for Chinese firms in attracting talent is a disparity in expectations. Mainland firms are currently unable to offer competitive salary packages as they need to benchmark Hong Kong salaries against those of their employees in China. It will take time to adapt to differences and this will involve aligning staff benefits with those in a company’s China headquarters.
Professionals will have to predominantly work on Hong Kong-based projects, so people with very strong local experience will be required to form a team.
Conversely, an ability to speak Mandarin and familiarity with Chinese business culture are also critical. Professionals with such skills are in high demand in Hong Kong and can secure a salary increment of 10 to 15 per cent by joining a Chinese property developer.
This article appeared in the Classified Post print edition as Knowing the terrain.
