AS HONG Kong’s commercial landlords and real estate agents are finding out, a border reopening and the return of Chinese visitors do not necessarily spell a universal boom to the city.

Restaurants, especially in the business district of Central, are full. The Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival is drawing crowds. In the evenings, people swarm in and out of shops in Causeway Bay, once home to the world’s most expensive retail space.

Meanwhile, apartment sales are picking up, with the city’s biggest developers offloading hundreds of flats within days. It’s a huge relief after a painful 2022, when transaction volumes sank to the lowest in decades.