Larger houses in Hong Kong increase exponentially for cost/sqm....
And I've actually been looking at housing in Melbourne, so many nice one floor 2 bedroom villas for $1500 a month... not to mention, if he's renting, and doesn't have a family yet, a lot of these costs are completely irrelevant... you're scaring him
By no means would I ever recommend Hong Kong though I have heard of Melbourne having high living expenses, almost, ALMOST, comparable to Vancouver