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What makes McDonald’s assets stand out amid a weak Hong Kong retail property market?

Restaurant chain’s disposal drive shows investors cherry-pick only top-tier assets amid city’s retail property slump, analysts say

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Peggy YePublished: 8:00am, 10 Aug 2026One year after McDonald’s began selling its self-owned Hong Kong shops, the fast-food giant has found buyers for nearly half its portfolio even as the city’s retail property market endures its weakest spell in decades.

McDonald’s planned to dispose of all 23 shops in phases, market sources said, with the portfolio initially valued at about HK$3 billion (US$382 million).

Since launching the disposal plan with JLL in July last year, the chain had sold 11 properties for more than HK$900 million – five last year and six worth HK$607 million this year, according to South China Morning Post calculations. The sales included the first batch of eight properties marketed by JLL through public tender.

The progress is notable amid Hong Kong’s retail property downturn. While McDonald’s is still realising gains over its historical purchase costs, other shops have sold at prices more than 30 per cent below peak valuations or original asking prices.

Shop values remained more than 50 per cent below pre-pandemic highs, while veteran investors and major landlords continued to offload assets, according to analysts. Only 379 shop transactions were completed in the first half, little changed from a year earlier, according to Centaline Commercial.

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