Where are the most expensive rental rates for skyscrapers around the world? Want the answer? Here are the results.

Hong Kong tops the charts for being the place where prime commercial rents in skyscrapers are the most expensive, easily ahead of New York City, Tokyo, San Francisco and London, according to real estate group Knight Frank.

The organisation’s “Skyscraper Index” showed that in the six months to the fourth quarter of 2016, prime rents per square foot in Hong Kong were $302; in New York the figure was $159; in Tokyo it was $134.39, in San Francisco it was $113, and in London (City district) it was $104.56.

Rents for skyscraper offices in Australian cities, are rising faster than those in any other global city, according to the latest Skyscraper Index from Knight Frank. Melbourne and Sydney grew the fastest among the cities surveyed at 11.0 per cent and 10.1 per cent respectively in the six months to Q4 2016, amid tightening vacancies and limited new supply.

The index tracks the rental performance of commercial buildings over 30 storeys across the world. In Sydney, stock withdrawals to accommodate the new Metro line and residential conversions are reducing the overall supply, while Melbourne had the strongest level of net absorption in 2016, it said. Rents in Sydney were 97.34 per foot. Other cities are Boston ($77); Shanghai ($67.81 million); Singapore ($63.64); Chicago ($61 million); Beijing ($59.84); Paris ($53.83); Frankfurt ($52.85); Mumbai ($52.67); Melbourne ($50.89); Toronto ($49.74); Los Angelesn ($46); Dubai ($43.55); Taipei ($38.59); Madrid ($36.41) and Seoul ($29.93).

“The strong performance for Melbourne and Sydney reflect local market factors. If we set those cities to one side, the general picture from the latest Skyscraper Index is flat growth, which reflects the nervousness in most office markets in the second half of last year over political risks, like Brexit and the US election. However, in 2017, the tone of global economic news is improving, and both Brexit and the Trump government have not had the negative impact on growth that was initially feared. When we compile the next skyscraper index in the summer, I expect to see more cities reporting rental growth in tower buildings,” James Roberts, chief economist at Knight Frank, said.