Hong Kong ranks 5th in APAC living investment on rising student housing demand

Hong Kong ranked fifth among Asia Pacific’s preferred living investment destinations, attracting 24 student housing conversion-related deals since 2021 worth US$1.63 billion (HK$12.7 billion), Cushman & Wakefield's inaugural APAC Living Investor Survey 2026 shows. 

The survey highlighted that Hong Kong has made 10 deals in the first seven months of 2026, involving US$739.9 million, as investors value the resilient demand, stable, and income-producing assets of education-linked residential assets, underpinned by the city’s persistent accommodation shortage and growing student population.

Conversion-led strategies are becoming increasingly prevalent in addressing the city’s living-sector supply chain, with 90 percent of respondents actively considering repositioning or change-of-use opportunities.

Living-sector deployments are estimated to reach US$33.2 billion over the next five years across APAC, the survey said, with 85 percent of investors planning to increase living investment over the same period. Notably, a third of respondents who already owned diversified real estate portfolios expect living to account for more than 30 percent of their portfolio.

Recent market volatility has led 50 percent of respondents to prefer stabilized assets over institutional-grade stock in APAC, with 73 percent of respondents actively considering repositioning or change-of-use strategies. Meanwhile, joint ventures will become more popular in the next one to three years, and office and hotel conversions are increasingly important for living supply in markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

However, the report pointed out that market competition will become fiercer, as much of APAC lacks sufficient institutional-grade product to satisfy that demand. Only 22 percent of respondents agreed on development viability, and 44 percent believed the gap between buyer and seller expectations will be a leading investment challenge.
 

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