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This building in Hong Kong is one of the most expensive office towers in the world.
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And in this part of town, demand for space is hot.
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With no signs of slowing down, this district, Central tops the list of places with the most expensive office rent around the world.
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Hong Kong has held its spot at the top for three years now.
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If you want to rent an office in this area, expect to pay about $306 per square foot, on average.
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When it comes to districts with the most expensive office space, Asia is leading the way.
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It makes up more than half of the top ten,
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and London's West End is the only non-Asian district in the top five.
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Hong Kong's average price for a square foot of office space is around
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30 percent higher than London's West End at second place,
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followed by Beijing's Finance Street, Hong Kong's Kowloon and Beijing's Central Business District.
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That's not stopping the likes of HSBC, JP Morgan and hedge funds like Steve Cohen's Point72
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from putting their regional headquarters in Hong Kong's financial district.
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While Central Hong Kong is a convenient place for workers to commute to and clients to visit,
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there's also an element of prestige in having an office address here, too.
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And that prestige is enticing mainland Chinese companies to move in.
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They're willing to pay top dollar to make a statement.
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A slew of Chinese companies have moved in like Chinese conglomerate, HNA Group.
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The demand in Hong Kong is driven primarily by banking and finance sectors.
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This building is called The Center.
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Last year, it was sold for $5.15 billion.
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That sale could have heavyweights like Goldman Sachs partially moving out.
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It's reportedly moving its back office to another, cheaper part of Hong Kong.
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which one analyst says could help the firm save 30 percent on office rent.
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All by moving to a space about a 20-minute drive away.
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Across from the district of Central, is an area known as Kowloon.
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It saw a 12 percent increase in the cost of office space,
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putting it in the fourth most expensive place in the world.
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Hong Kong isn't the only expensive hub in Asia.
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This is Financial Street, located on the western part of China's capital.
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The district jumped three places on the most expensive list to the third position.
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As China's economy and financial markets open to the world,
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it's driving up the cost of both office and residential real estate.
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Meanwhile, the nation is seeing a growing demand in big cities
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and a booming middle class.
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The demand is being driven by finance, technology and flexible-space.
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Consider this. To rent office space here will cost about $200 per square foot.
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Compare that with $184 in Midtown Manhattan.
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While those areas are currently the world's most expensive, other areas are climbing the list.
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Durban in South Africa shot up by more than 20 percent in occupancy costs from last year.
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Followed by Bangkok, Marseille, Vancouver and Oslo.
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There are many factors that contribute to changes in price, like government regulations,
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supply and demand and foreign exchange rates.
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One CBRE report however found that growing costs are being driven
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by demand for the growth of industries like finance, technology and e-commerce.
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Meanwhile, markets linked to resource based economies are also seeing a demand increase,
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due to rising commodity prices.
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That could partially explain why South Africa, Canada and Norway saw rent soar.
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But office rent isn't going up across the board.
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Some areas saw a big decrease.
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Topping the list is Dubai with a dramatic 15 percent drop in costs,
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followed by Shanghai, New York's midtown, Moscow and then Abu Dhabi.
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These markets were primarily affected largely because of the supply and demand imbalances.
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Often, when too many new buildings hit the market, it drives costs down.
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But it's all relative.
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If you want to rent in the Pudong district of Shanghai, that will set a company back
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$139 per square foot.
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While that has gone down about 5 percent this year, it's still far from inexpensive.
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It's still more pricey than Paris and San Francisco.
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With the pricey rent that some companies are willing to pay for their office space,
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there's one thing that's for sure.
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Working from home may never be an option.
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Hey guys, it's Uptin. Thanks for watching!
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For more of our videos check out, “Why is Hong Kong Housing So Expensive?” here,
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and how the city is losing its significance in banking, here.
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We're also taking suggestions for future CNBC Explains so leave your comments in the section below,
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and while you're at it, subscribe to our channel.