<div id="readability-page-1">Developers in Hong Kong are testing the housing market’s recovery by nudging prices up or paring discounts as improving sentiment and a rebound in transactions boost confidence in the city’s property sector. But analysts said the moves remained uneven, with many newly launched projects still offering sizeable concessions as developers continued to prioritise clearing unsold inventory accumulated during the market downturn. New World Development plans to cut the discount offered under the 120-day immediate payment plan at its Deep Water Pavilia project in Wong Chuk Hang from 8 per cent to 5.5 per cent starting on Monday, effectively raising prices by about 2.5 per cent. Most of the project had already been sold, with only a handful of smaller flats and several larger units still available, according to sales information released by the developer. Other developers have taken a more direct approach. At the Grand Mayfair project near Kam Sheung Road station in Yuen Long, led by Sino Land, the developer recently raised prices on more than a dozen units by between 1.4 per cent and 7.1 per cent. Some developers are lifting effective prices by scaling back incentives rather than adjusting headline prices, analysts said. Vanke Hong Kong has revised price lists for its Le Mont project in Tai Po several times over the past month, cutting the maximum discount to just 6 per cent from about 16 per cent last year. “We started to see some developers raising prices or reducing discounts three to four months ago, and more have followed as sentiment has clearly recovered since January,” said Sammy Po, CEO of Midland Realty’s residential division. But such price adjustments are often limited to projects where most units have already been sold. “These are leftover units,” Po said. “Developers are no longer in a hurry to offload them.” Edgar Lai, senior director of valuation and advisory services at Cushman &amp; Wakefield, said the cautious adjustments reflected a market that was only beginning to stabilise.  “The market has only just started to recover, so developers are still being very careful,” he said. “Gradually reducing incentives is a more conservative way of raising prices.” At the same time, newly launched projects continued to rely on relatively generous discounts to attract buyers. New World Development’s Cloudview project in Sheung Shui released its first price list this week, offering more than 150 units with discounts of up to 20 per cent. Prices start from HK$3.683 million after concessions. Agents described the pricing as restrained, with the average discounted price roughly in line with second-hand homes in the district. In Tsim Sha Tsui, New World also launched its Grand Austin Bohemian Collection project, releasing an initial batch of flats with discounts of up to 20 per cent. The developer later released a second price list for the remaining units, keeping the same level of concessions while setting the entry price to the lowest level in the district in about 11 years. Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices rebounded about 2 per cent in the first two months of the year, which many market watchers see as a sign that the market may have found a floor after a prolonged slump that began in 2022 amid high interest rates, weak economic sentiment and a surge in supply. Home prices rose 0.53 per cent in January from a month earlier, according to official data, sustaining a recovery that began in the second quarter of 2025. “Overall, developers are still prioritising clearing inventory,” Po said. “There are still around 16,000 unsold new units, so developers want to generate cash quickly.” Because of that supply overhang, most mass-market projects are still expected to launch with discounts, particularly in districts with heavy new supply like Kai Tak and Tseung Kwan O. Developers are likely to regain stronger pricing power only after the backlog of unsold units falls further. Midland estimates discounts for mass-market projects may disappear only once unsold inventory drops closer to 10,000 units. The gradual reduction in incentives also reflects growing optimism among investors about the sector’s outlook. Shares of major Hong Kong developers have rallied between 20 and 50 per cent this year, suggesting equity investors are increasingly betting the property cycle has bottomed out. Still, Lai cautioned the recovery remained fragile. “The market is in the early stage of recovery, but confidence in the fundamentals is still not stable because of economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions,” he said, forecasting home prices could rise about 5 per cent this year. </div>

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<p>Developers in Hong Kong are testing the housing market’s recovery by nudging prices up or paring discounts as improving sentiment and a rebound in transactions boost confidence in the city’s property sector.</p>

Hong Kong developers test pricing power amid home-market recovery