泡沫破滅:香港樓市開始打折促銷

Hong Kong's once-sizzling property market has turned so frosty that developers have resorted to discounts and other incentives to lure buyers to new apartment complexes.
香港原本火熱的房地產市場已經降溫，開發商開始藉助打折及其他促銷手段吸引買家購買新房。

The new units are still expensive even after the givebacks -- some are commanding US$2,500 a square foot, or more, which rivals new luxury condos in Manhattan.
但即便考慮上返利因素，新住宅單位的價格依然很貴。有些單位的價格達到了每平方英尺2,500美元，甚至更高，完全可以和曼哈頓的新建豪宅相媲美。

But the price cuts mark a sharp break from the overheated market of just two years ago, before the government stepped in to cool price increases.
但與此形成鮮明對比的是，就在兩年前香港樓市還呈現過熱景象，促使政府進行干預爲樓市降溫。

Incentives ranging from 18-month payment delays to limited-time discounts and cash rebates are aimed at stoking a market that turned stagnant last year as buyers sat out and transaction totals fell. Some developers also are offering second mortgages via nonbank finance companies worth up to 25% of the purchase price of more expensive properties. (Banks in Hong Kong are allowed to lend no more than 50% on apartments costing over 10 million Hong Kong dollars, or US$1.3 million.)
開發商推出了各種刺激措施，包括延遲18個月付款、限時折扣和返還現金等等。由於買家離場觀望，市場總成交量下滑，去年香港樓市逐漸變得低迷，上述措施旨在提振市場。一些開發商還通過非銀行金融公司提供二次按揭，按揭規模最高可以達到高價房總價的25%（對於超過1,000萬港元（合130萬美元）的住宅，按照規定，香港的銀行提供的按揭貸款規模不能超過購房總額的50%）。

'Everybody is doing it,' Nicole Wong, a real-estate analyst at brokerage firm CLSA, said of the discounts. 'You've more supply fighting for a smaller amount of money and fewer buyers.'
里昂證券(CLSA)房地產分析師王豔(Nicole Wong)稱，開發商都在打折，住房供應增多了，但資金和購房者卻減少了。

After a bull run that sent house prices doubling from 2008 to 2013, the government sought to rein in the market with various measures starting in late 2012. They included higher minimum down payments and sales taxes levied on transactions, or stamp duties, of up to 8.5%. As a result, the number of Hong Kong real-estate transactions fell to a 23-year low last year.
香港房地產市場在2008年至2013年間經歷了一輪牛市，房價上漲了一倍；從2012年年底開始，香港政府開始推出各種措施試圖抑制房地產市場。這些措施包括提高首付門檻、將印花稅稅率上調至最高8.5%。結果，去年香港房地產交易量跌至23年低點。

Authorities also imposed a so-called double-stamp duty, of 17%, on property purchases made by non-Hong Kong residents, including those from mainland China, who often were blamed for pushing up the price of real estate.
香港政府還對非香港居民（包括中國大陸居民）購買地產徵收17%的雙倍印花稅。大陸買家經常被指是香港房價上漲背後的推動因素。

Hong Kong's measures iced the market, especially deterring foreign buyers and speculators, according to analysts. The number of residential transactions declined 56% in 2013, according to government data. Prices rose only slightly compared with 2012, according to an index by property agency Centaline. Government figures show an increase in 2013, but a slight decline in the first two months of 2014.
分析師們稱，香港的這些舉措令香港地產市場陷入寒冬，尤其抑制了海外買家和投機者的購房意願。香港政府的數據顯示，2013年香港住宅交易量減少56%。根據房屋中介機構中原地產(Centaline)的數據，2013年香港住宅價格較2012年僅微幅上漲。根據香港政府的數據，2013年住宅價格上漲，但今年前兩個月小幅下跌。

Developers have had to sweeten their offers. The discounts started to appear late last year.
開發商們已不得不加大了優惠力度。打折現象是去年年底開始出現的。

So far, efforts seem to be working. Spring is traditionally busy and large crowds of aspiring homeowners have crowded the showrooms at the launches of new projects.
目前來看，這些促銷手段似乎開始奏效。春天通常是樓市旺季，一些新推出樓盤的展廳內擠滿了看房者。

'It's like Marks & Spencer's with a Christmas sale,' said Wong Leung Sing, an analyst at Centaline, referring to the department-store chain.
中原地產分析師黃良升表示，新樓盤人頭涌動的景象堪比馬莎百貨(Marks & Spencer Group)的聖誕節促銷場面。

While fewer transactions are being done in the overall housing market, sales of new apartments are on the rise, according to government figures. Transactions increased 23% in the first quarter from a year earlier, for a total value of HK$32 billion, a 28% increase from last year.
香港政府的數據顯示，雖然住房市場總體交易量減少，但新建住宅銷量增加。與上年同期相比，今年第一季度的新住宅成交量增長23%，成交額增長28%，至320億港元。The Hong Kong government has said it has no intention of repealing the cooling measures at the moment.
香港政府已表示，目前尚無撤銷上述樓市降溫舉措的打算。

Even luxury condos are being discounted. Connie Law, a 52-year-old homemaker, recently explored 10 new developments to buy. She settled on a three-bedroom apartment of 1,280 square feet in a new development in Hong Kong's middle-class Quarry Bay neighborhood.
一些高檔住宅項目也加入看打折行列。想要購房的52歲的家庭主婦Connie Law近期看了十處新樓盤，最終選定了靠近口魚涌的一套面積1,280平方英尺（合119平方米）、有三間臥房的住宅。口魚涌是香港中產階級聚居的地方。

Ms. Law said that after a 4.25% discount from the developer, her family paid HK$27.3 million for the flat, about twice the price of a comparably sized flat in the 29-year-old buildings that line the rest of the block. 'The discount was a help,' Ms. Law said.
Law女士表示，開發商給了4.25%的折扣，她的家庭支付的價格爲2,730萬港元，這大概相當於該地段一棟29年房齡舊樓中相似面積住宅單元售價的兩倍。Law稱，上述折扣不無小補。

The city's largest developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., is among the most aggressive in price cutting. In April, it opened a 144-unit development in the suburb of Fanling. With prices starting at HK$8,814 a square foot, the new units were offered at about 10% below similar-size units at a comparable one-year-old building nearby.
香港最大的房地產開發商新鴻基地產發展有限公司(Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., 簡稱：新鴻基地產)是降價動作最激進的公司之一。今年4月，該公司在粉嶺郊區的144個單位的開發項目開盤，起價爲每平方英尺8,814港元，比附近可比的一年前開盤的同等面積樓盤低了大約10%

The company said it would offer additional 5% discounts to those who paid in cash, 3% to anyone who signs a contract before May 31 and 2% for those who don't need a second mortgage to finance the purchase. Sun Hung Kai also is offering one-year bridge loans for as much as 70% of an apartment's value.
該公司說，將向那些現金支付房款的購房者提供額外5%的折扣，向在5月31日前簽約的購房者提供3%的折扣，向那些不需要二次按揭的購房者提供2%的折扣。新鴻基地產提供一年期過渡性貸款，額度最高可達房屋價值的70%。

In February, the company set the price for a batch of 156 apartments at its large Riva project in suburban Yuen Long at 40% lower than for the first bunch of units it sold at the same development in March 2013.
今年2月，該公司爲元朗郊區Riva 項目的156個住宅單位定的價格比2013年3月同一開發項目出售的第一批住宅低了40%。

A spokeswoman said the company's strategy adjusts prices 'to market sentiment.'
該公司發言人說，公司的策略是依照市場人氣調整價格。

Earlier this year, at a new development called The Avenue in the city's bustling Wanchai neighborhood, Sino Land Co. and Hopewell Holdings Ltd. offered 17.5% discounts for cash buyers. Factoring in the discounts, the new units sold at around HK$19,000 a square foot, or about 20% cheaper than comparable upscale units in nearby buildings.
今年早些時候，在香港喧鬧的灣仔區一個名爲“The Avenue”的新開發項目上，信和置業有限公司(Sino Land Co.)和合和實業有限公司(Hopewell Holdings Ltd.)爲現金購房者提供17.5%的折扣。把這一折扣計算進來之後，新住宅單位的售價大約爲每平方英尺1.9萬港元，比附近的可比高檔住宅低大約20%。

The price reductions so far have been focused only on new apartments, but analysts say it is inevitable that sellers of existing units will follow suit.
截至目前，降價主要集中在待售住宅單位，但分析人士說，在售住宅單位的賣家將隨後跟進，這是不可避免的。

Still, some home buyers remain cautious. After Raymond Ho, a 50-year-old accountant at an electronic-components company, sold his two-bedroom apartment in Kowloon, he was inundated with calls from agents. He is now looking to buy in one of several new developments in the northern New Territories suburbs for easier access to mainland China, where he often travels for work.
不過，一些購房者仍持謹慎態度。Raymond Ho現年50歲，在一家電子配件公司當會計，在售出自己在九龍的兩居室之後，他的電話就被房地產中介給打爆了。如今，他正計劃着在北部的新界郊區的幾個新開發項目中買一套住宅，因爲這裏進出中國內地很方便，他爲了工作的原因要經常到內地去。

He has looked at several developments but hasn't made an offer yet. 'The prices do look attractive at first glance, but I know that it's also a gimmick,' he said. 'There's a lot of choice.'
他已經去幾個開發項目看過，但還沒有做出購買決定。他說，價格初看起來挺有吸引力，但他知道那只是噱頭。他說，有很多住宅可供選擇。