Divergences in Hong Kong’s rents and house prices are turning more renters into buyers, especially newcomers under the city’s various talent programs, offering a potential cure to the property crisis.

Monica Li, a 36-year-old full-time mother from Beijing, is looking for a two-bedroom apartment in Kai Tak or Wong Chuk Hang in the price range of HK$20 million (2 .6 million US dollars). For families like hers – and for all mainland investors – buying property in Hong Kong is more palatable after stamp duties were removed in February, including a buyer’s stamp duty that targeted residents not permanent, Li added.

“Properties are cheap now because prices have fallen a lot from the peak,” Li said. “Interest rates are also falling, but rents are doing well. This is the right time to invest in suitable projects.

Li, who initially came to Hong Kong for work, just like her husband, is not banking on big profits from rising property prices. Instead, she decided that her children would study in Hong Kong. Many mainland families are looking for property for the same reasons, she said.

“The number of mainland buyers purchasing properties in Hong Kong has increased significantly since March, and we have seen recent projects first-hand like Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Cullinan Sky in Kai Tak and CK Asset’s Blue Coast in Wong Chuk Hang mainly targeting these buyers. said Norry Lee, Senior Director of Project Strategy and Consulting Department at JLL Hong Kong.