HONG KONG: Competition in the mortgage loan business among banks in Hong Kong is heating up, with some partnering with mortgage brokers to offer this year’s lowest mortgage rate to buyers of two new developments in Tsuen Wan. Centaline Mortgage Broker said on Thursday that it would provide clients who bought units of Cheung Kong Property’s Ocean Supreme, a mortgage rate as low as 1.68 per cent for the first year, and followed by 1.28 percentage point above the Hong Kong interbank offered rate (Hibor), or 1.7 per cent on subsequent years. “It should be the city most affordable mortgage payment plan,” said Ivy Wong Mei-fung, managing director of Centaline Mortgage.
The plan slightly undercut Referral Mortgage Brokerage Services’ 30-year mortgage loan at 1.3 percentage point above Hibor for buyers of Parc City. It is designated for application of home loan amount of HK$4 million or above. The rate is only offered to buyers who purchase Parc City units through its parent company, Midland Realty. With the one-month Hibor at 0.4217 per cent on Thursday, buyers will obtain loans at an effective mortgage rate of 1.72 per cent per year, compared with the market rate of 1.82 per cent under H-rate plans. The two mortgage brokerage firms have teamed up banks to offer such preferential terms to their clients. But they declined to identify which banks were offering the schemes.
The mortgage plans came after Chinachem Group release its price list on Wednesday for the first 191 units at Parc City, adjacent to West Rail’s Tsuen Wan West station, where the average price was HK$14,449 (US$1,847) per square foot after factoring in up to 20 per cent discount. It was the lowest launch price for new flats put on sale this year, and 10 per cent below the secondary market transaction price. More than 550 prospective buyers have signed up for the Parc City units on Thursday, according to market sources. Chinachem’s launch price was also 14 per cent below the HK$16,877 per sq ft price that Cheung Kong Property set in May for Ocean Supreme, a development adjacent to Parc City.
