THE shift to working from home may not harm office demand much in Hong Kong, as companies and workers brush against the limitations of the arrangement.

In contrast to much of the rest of the world, the work-from-home trend may have been overplayed in Hong Kong, Cusson Leung, head of Asia property research at JP Morgan Chase & Co., said in an interview yesterday.

The need for social contact, the city’s cramped apartments, its efficient public transport network and short commutes all work in favor of a return to the office, Leung said.

“One major part of business activity is social interaction. You don’t have that working from home,” Leung said. “There will be increasing work flexibility, but at the same time employees will strongly oppose employers from completely removing their workstations from the office.”

JP Morgan expects office rents in Central, the city’s prime business district, to remain stable in 2021, while rents in other areas will rise by 5 percent.

A potential increase in demand from mainland companies this year will also help support Hong Kong’s office market, Leung said. As the country’s economy further recovers from the pandemic, more mainland firms are expected to expand in Hong Kong once borders re-open.

Hong Kong’s office market has been under pressure during the pandemic. Grade A office rents in Hong Kong fell 17 percent in 2020, the largest annual decline since 2009, according to Savills Plc.(SD-Agencies)