Hong Kong's two biggest developers have accelerated pre-sales of at least 2,227 new flats under construction - some at steep price discounts - raising concerns that they expect market conditions to get worse as the projects near completion next year.

Cheung Kong (Holdings) said yesterday that it would begin pre-selling flats tomorrow at its Central Park Towers II in Tin Shui Wai.

The developer stunned the market last Tuesday by announcing it planned to release the flats for as low as HK$2,066 per square foot, more than 10% below secondary market deals in the area.

It announced the pricing for the first batch of units on the same day, leading secondary market deals to plunge at the weekend as buyers turned their attention to the discounted new units.

Sun Hung Kai Properties announced the next day that it would release its project, the Latitude in San Po Kong, Kowloon, for private negotiations. It said it would offer the units at an indicative range of HK$6,000 to HK$8,000 per square foot.

South China Morning Post