Cash rebates, Octopus cards and a Tesla: how Hong Kong banks are attracting customers to boost Covid-hit mortgage business

Prospective buyers of Country Garden’s Allegro residential project in Kowloon City can get a cash rebate of up to 1.6 per cent

HSBC is offering a Telsa Model Y electric car as the grand prize in a promotion for customers taking out green mortgages

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Banks are offering customers cash rebates of up to 1.6 per cent for mortgages to buy units in Country Garden’s Allegro Development in Kowloon City. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 8:57pm, 19 May 2022Updated: 9:44am, 20 May 2022

Hong Kong’s banks are working with mortgage brokers and developers to offer attractive cash rebates, limited-edition Octopus cards and even a Tesla as a lottery prize to boost new home sales and loans, after a slowdown in property activity in the first quarter due to the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services and Centaline Mortgage Broker are offering prospective buyers mortgage plans with a cash rebate of up to 1.6 per cent for Country Garden’s Allegro residential project in Kowloon City, which goes on sale on Saturday.

The mortgage rates are the “same as last year, but the cash rebate is slightly raised”, said Eric Tso Tak-ming, chief vice-president at mReferral.

The higher rebates come as the city’s mortgage rates are likely to remain stable until the third quarter or even the end of the year, when the benchmark one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (Hibor) interest rate may rise to 1.5 per cent, even if the US Federal Reserve increases its rates, said Tso.

Property buyers gather at Henderson Land’s sales office in Tsim Sha Tsui on May 1, 2022, for a chance to buy a unit in the developer’s The Quinn, Square Mile residential project. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

An increase in Hibor means borrowers with Hibor-linked mortgages will face a higher repayment burden.