World
So Long, Fat Expat Packages. Fewer Bankers in Hong Kong Get Them Now
Only 7 percent of agent’s clients get HK$100,000 for housing, down from 31 percent four years ago.
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Expat housing packages are so 2012.
Long the golden privilege of the Hong Kong-based finance and banking crowd in Asia, the days of guaranteed housing allowances fat enough to rent a 4,000-square-foot harbor-view home on the Peak or a townhouse in exclusive Repulse Bay for HK$300,000 ($38,650) a month are gone. That perk is being slashed or eliminated, forcing expatriate finance types to give up marble Jacuzzis, private gardens and killer views in exchange for something humbler. And it’s putting a damper on the luxury rental market.