Sino Land offers aggressive discounts at Tai Po development Mayfair by the Sea 8 to woo buyers
- Discount is up to 30 per cent at new offering at Mayfair by the Sea 8
- Housing market has cooled, giving buyers a stronger hand
Hong Kong developer Sino Land will offer up to 30 per cent discounts at a development in Tai Po to try to drum up sales amid a weakening housing market in the city.
The first batch of 108 units of its Mayfair by the Sea development 8 in Tai Po district, New Territories, will be offered at an average price of HK$13,228 (US$1,686.65) per square foot, the developer said Monday.
In comparison, The St Martin by Sun Hung Kai Properties, about a 10-minute walk away, sold for an average HK$18,698 per square foot in July of last year, shortly before the city’s 28-month bull run in home prices ended.
After the discount, the first batch of the 528-unit Mayfair By the Sea 8 development will cost between HK$6.07 million to HK$10.75 million. Selling could begin as early as next week, the developer said.
“The developer would like to see all units snapped up by buyers in the first day. That is the why it tags the development at such a cheap price,” said Louis Chan Wing-kit, managing director for residential department at local agency Centaline Property.
A low price strategy has proved to be the only effective way to woo buyers as Hong Kong’s property market rapidly cools in the face of a slowing economy, rising mortgage rates and uncertainties over the US-China trade war.
The number of property transactions in Hong Kong, including those for flats, offices and car parking spaces, fell 58 per cent to 3,024 in December 2018 from the same period in 2017, according to data from local real estate agency Midland Realty.
Sino Land was the first one in the city who offered steep discounts, selling its Grand Central development in East Kowloon at a 14 per cent discount in mid-December last year. So far, about 93 per cent of the 1,535 flats offered by the developer have been sold.
Following Sino Land’s offering, Mainland developer China Overseas Land and Investment, Hong Kong developer Sun Hung Kai Properties and Wing Tai Properties will launch their new projects in January at prices about 10 per cent lower than nearby developments sold in 2018.
