Zhuhai buyers get discounts, Disney
Hong Kong buyers, accustomed to paying a premium for mainland property, have a chance to pick up units in a Hutchison Whampoa Properties project in Zhuhai at a 15 per cent discount.
Although the first 300 units in Phase 3B of the Horizon Cove development sold for an average price of $500 per square foot after being released on October 1, the developer will offer eight more units at $417 per square foot to lure Hong Kong investors.
And as an extra carrot, the first five buyers will also receive admission tickets to Disneyland and one hotel night at the theme park.
'We are offering steep discounts in order to drum up sales in Hong Kong,' said Jason Tam Kim-yuk, the general manager for China marketing at Hutchison Whampoa Properties.
Unit prices in the low to medium-rise Phase 3B range from $363,000 to $423,000.
Mr Tam said the company had raised about 200 million yuan from the sale of the 300 units in Phase 3B, which is part of the five million square foot residential development with 766 units measuring between 700 sq ft and 2,430 sq ft.
He said the development could generate annual rental income of about 10 per cent, with two-bedroom units renting for 3,100 yuan a month and those with three bedrooms fetching 5,000 yuan.
'About half of the buyers at Horizon Cove are investors,' he said.
The fourth phase, comprising 500 units in four, 30-storey towers, will go on the market late next year and in 2007.
Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong (Holdings) have spent billions of dollars in recent years to acquire development sites in mainland cities including Wuhan, Changsha, Changchun, Chengdu and Xian.
Mr Tam expects the group will release its first project in inland cities for sale in the second half of next year. 'We have seen some Hong Kong people buying apartments in Chengdu and Xian,' he said.
He said the group would step up its marketing efforts to release more new mainland residential projects in Hong Kong.
On Wednesday, Hutchison Whampoa Properties will announce sale details of another residential project in Guangzhou.
