Fierce competition for new mortgage customers is driving banks in Hong Kong to offer the highest cash rebates in nearly two decades.
The deals — offered as a percentage of the principal loan amount — ramped up from about 1.3% last year to as much as 2.6% currently, the highest in over 17 years, according to Centaline Mortgage Broker data.
Banks such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Bank of China (Hong Kong) are using the incentive as a way to draw in clients, while property transactions remain subdued in the city’s real estate market that’s still reeling from an exodus of residents last year amid its zero Covid policy. Lenders are also getting squeezed as a cap on lending rates in the city crimps margins.
Read More: Hong Kong banks ramp up cash handouts in fierce mortgage competition