Sun Hung Kai cuts prices for some Riva project units

[HONG KONG] Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, Hong Kong's second-largest developer by market value, has cut prices by 40 per cent on average for some apartments at its Riva project in the city's northwestern Yuen Long district - a move that may spur a price war, The Standard reported earlier this week.

The developer priced 156 flats, of between 466 and 1,424 square feet, at an average of HK$9,268 (S$1,515) per saleable square foot, the newspaper said, citing the company. That compared with the HK$15,500 psf price for the first 50 homes introduced last March, the newspaper said. The Riva has a total of 780 units.

Homebuyers have backed away since the Hong Kong government imposed its toughest property curbs last February to dampen an asset bubble. Transactions slowed to 50,676 last year - the lowest since 1996, according to Land Registry data.

The prices of the Riva homes are about 10 per cent less than that of apartments for sale on the secondary market in the district, according to the newspaper.

Sun Hung Kai's deputy managing director Victor Lui said prices shouldn't be directly compared with units released in 2013 as developers always price according to the market conditions, the paper reported. -Bloomberg