The dazzling lights of the New York skyline offered a sparkling drawcard when Cheung Kong Holdings recently took out a full-page newspaper advertisement for its latest project, the Apex. The poster showed the stunning Manhattan cityscape with a model of the Apex property tucked away in the bottom corner of the advertisement. The promotion also highlighted the project's luxury clubhouse and convenient proximity to the railway station. The advertisement, however, did not state the fact that the site is located in the busy industrial area of Kwai Chung.
Mid-sized developer K. Wah Real Estates also recently ran a newspaper advertisement for its new project, J Residence, on Johnston Road in Wan Chai. The picture in the promotion shows the tower next to the Conrad Hotel and Island Shangri-La in Admiralty. The block and the hotels are in reality nearly 1km apart.
Other developers also seem to have a skewed view of the city's geography. Nam Fung's La Place de Victoria on King's Road, North Point, was promoted as a 'sea view luxury classic sitting at the side of Braemar Hill'. A small developer, SEA Holdings, recently branded its new project at the section between Morrison Hill Road and Wan Chai Road as 'cosmopolitan living chic condo in Happy Valley'.
Shih Wing-ching, chairman of Centaline Property Agency, described such advertising practices as laughable. 'People will not be fooled by these ads, but developers should put the address of their sites in the promotion materials,' he said. 'Such behaviour could make people cast doubt on their credibility.'
Sales tactics adopted by developers have become a hot topic in the city. Real estate agents selling Sun Hung Kai's Park Island flats last month reportedly demanded buyers pay HK$50,000 before they could see price lists. There were also complaints about a lack of sales brochures and price lists at Le Point developed by Cheung Kong.
But the price list problem is just one of many issues being considered as the debate continues over strategies used to sell residential properties.
Some of the claims made by developers about their projects seem dubious at the very least. Henderson Land, in promoting its Grand Waterfront in To Kwa Wan, said it would arrange a route by ferry from the project to Central. But the Transport Department said it had not received any application to launch the route. The developer then said the route did not require approval.
