Hong Kong developers shower rebates, discounts and goodies to whet buyers’ appetite for ‘revenge spending’ ahead of massive launches in the second quarter

Hong Kong’s developers are offering discounts, longer payment terms, cash rebates and other goodies to drum up buying interest, as the residential property market is poised to rebound from its first-quarter slump after the city’s Covid-19 outbreak abates.

Henderson Land Development is offering up to HK$100,000 (US$12,757) of cash rebates to spur buyers to pay within 120 days for their purchases of leftover flats at The Richmond development at West Mid-Levels. Chevalier International Holdings is waiving the management fee for up to 24 months for the first 10 buyers to book its Sablier project in Tai Kok Tsui, with an extra 3 per cent discount on some units.

“Major developers need to catch up with their performances,” said Hong Kong Property Services (Agency)’s Chief Operations Officer Dave Ma, who expects 4,000 new flats to be released for sale in the three months through June. “To keep the market’s attention and ensure sales, developers are expected to exercise restraint in pricing to attract buyers and investors.”

The expected releases, based on a calculation of homes that qualify for presale consent, would mark the busiest quarter in nine months, as the ebb and flow of successive waves of the Covid-19 disease sent the world’s most expensive residential property market into bouts of inactivity and torpor.

Sales of newly built homes slumped 64 per cent in the first three months of 2022 to a six-year low of 1,679 units, compared with the fourth quarter of last year, according to Land Registry data.

Large-scale weekend property launches had been missing in Hong Kong since late January, as social distancing rules enforced to contain the city’s latest wave of Covid-19 outbreak diminished the scope for gatherings and forced many businesses to postpone their marketing activities.