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Analysis | Hong Kong property: how high rebates are helping developers lure more homebuyers amid a sluggish market
- Rebates serve as a price-adjustment tool for property developers under existing industry regulation, according to JLL Hong Kong’s Joseph Tsang
- The high rebates offered by agents show the impact of a persistent downward trend in the city’s property sector
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Continued sluggishness in Hong Kong’s residential market has pushed a growing number of the city’s property agents to vie for business by offering high rebates to clients.
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This state of affairs helped homebuyer Samantha Sung, 26, purchase a 430-square-foot, two-bedroom flat at Wheelock Properties’ Koko Mare development in Lam Tin in April.
Sung said an agent from Midland Realty accompanied her on the day of the sale and helped her deposit a cheque, promising to rebate 70 per cent of his commission fee to her after the transaction was completed. She indicated that the agent was to receive HK$242,400 as commission from the developer, HK$170,000 of which would be passed on to her as rebate.
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“When buying a new flat, a property agent’s role is mostly to offer rebates,” Sung said. “I talked to agents from different [property] agencies and chose the one who offered the highest [rebate].”
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