China’s largest real estate developer Vanke has embarked on a series of promotional activities in Shenzhen and Shanghai to attract prospective home
Analysts said the promotional activities are de facto price cuts by Vanke as part of its efforts to cope with the gloomy domestic property market.
From January 28 to Feb 9, Vanke conducted a series of activities in Shanghai, including lucky draws with the top prize an RMB13,000 discount on new home buys, one year free car parking, free property management, and free cable TV service.
A similar sale last year helped Vanke rake in RMB257 million cash in a single day.
Between February 7 and 9, as a promotional campaign during the Lantern Festival, Vanke offered RMB10,000 cash rewards for prospective home buyers in Shenzhen.
Figures from Vanke showed that sales revenues in January increased 18.6% year-on-year, and experts said it was tightly linked to its consistent promotion plans.
According to Vanke’s report released on Sunday, apartments traded in January on average were priced at RMB7,657.44 per sq m, a 5.2% fall from December.
China Daily said that following Vanke’s steps, a group of property developers in Shanghai including Greenland Group, Hong Kong-listed Hopson Development, and Poly Real Estate Group, have all marketed their projects with favorable offers during the Lantern Festival.
Chen Xikang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the government thinktank, said, ‘Housing prices in most of the big cities could drop by over 15% this year. Across the country, housing prices may drop by 8-10% on average in 2009, while the price in some big cities may go down by 15-20%.’