Prospects for shops in the "cosmeceuticals streets" of Sheung Shui are expected to look brighter this year now that the mainland has fully reopened its borders with Hong Kong this month.
These streets, which are occupied by shops selling cosmeceuticals - cosmetic products that claim to have medicinal or drug-like benefits - were packed with mainlanders before the pandemic.
And after three dismal years, a street in the North district town, which is one stop away from the Lo Wu crossing, saw four shops rented recently.
Of these, 52 San Hong Street, which has a size of 1,050 square feet, was rented out for HK$110,000 per month, or HK$105 per sq ft.
Shop 4 at 67 San Hong Street with 484 sq ft, was leased out for HK$70,000, or HK$144 per sq ft. And a 500-sq-ft shop at 63A went for HK$80,000, or HK$160 per sq ft.
A year ago, the rent for a 1,000-sq-ft shop at San Hong Street ranged from HK$70,000 to HK$90,000. A food wholesaler rented a 1,000-sq-ft space for HK$70,000 in April, or HK$70 per sq ft.
Just months later, November, a similar-sized jewelry store renewed its lease for HK$178,000, or HK$178 per sq ft.
According to an agency, there are still many unoccupied shops in Sheung Shui, but the number will drop as cosmeceutical and other tourist-focused businesses return.
Rents in some newly signed leases have rebounded around 10 percent from the bottom and the increase will reach 20 to 30 percent this year, he pointed out.
In fact, the rental market in the main streets of Sheung Shui has become active since December and a total of nine shops were leased out since the beginning of this year - with one transaction on San Fung Avenue and four others at Lung Sum Avenue and San Hong Street, an industry insider said.
The overall market sentiment also improved following the full border reopening.
The agency said the value of commercial property transactions in the city surged by 35 percent month on month in January to HK$4.08 billion despite a 6.5 percent drop in the number of deals due to the Lunar New Year.
Turnover involving offices soared 62 percent monthly to HK$901 million from December, and the number of transactions jumped 66 percent to 40 in January, said the agency, which believes the office market will continue to pick up in the coming months as business returns to normal following the border reopening, leading to a rise in prices.
A new tower, NCB Innovation Centre in Cheung Sha Wan, for example, sold seven car-parking lots for over HK$125 million, as well as three flats on the 22nd floor to a Singaporean firm for HK$63.25 million.
Transactions involving shops rose about 50 percent to HK$2.14 billion last month from a month ago, despite a 19 percent fall in deals to 57. Sales for industrial buildings remained flat although the number of deals fell 15 percent to 118.
Another agnecy estimates the number of commercial transactions will soar by 30 percent this year to 5,800 cases.
However it may take a while before figures get back to the prepandemic level.
