As a 3rd year SO I can tell you that after the first 2 years, the housing is way more than $24000 per month and actually well exceeds my 'salary'.
I recently had a pilot friend from my home country visit us and he was impressed by our lifestyle here. We rent a nice big place with plenty of space for the kids.
I tried to explain that recruitment of the future would not include housing and it sunk in to him that my 'lifestyle' would be non existent in HK without it.
"It would be damn hard" was his comment.
Damn right.
I can only urge you potential CXers to realise that the housing makes HK do-able. We may only be renting right now, but when the next property bubble bursts we will then buy our first place and have CX pay our mortgage for the next 25 years.