pilotchute
I have several properties in Sydney. Bondi is expensive, period. Inner city Sydney is expensive, period. None of my properties would attract the rental return you quote per square foot, period. You have obviously made a choice to live in one of the most expensive areas of Sydney.
You and your partner may be able to live in a small apartment but I must ask do they work? If they do, chances are they won’t in Hong Kong. 550 ft² becomes very small when you have to look at it 24 hours a day especially when you are away for up to half the month. More marriages suffer and fail because of this than I can poke a stick at. Oh and 550 ft² in HK isn’t the same as 550 ft² in Sydney. In HK it is considerably small running at about 70% efficiency for an apartment of that size. So that 550 ft² apartment is really about 385 ft² liveable area.