Hong Kong's once-sizzling property market has turned so frosty that developers have resorted to discounts and other incentives to lure buyers to new apartment complexes.
香港原本火热的房地产市场已经降温，开发商开始藉助打折及其他促销手段吸引买家购买新房。
The new units are still expensive even after the givebacks -- some are commanding US$2,500 a square foot, or more, which rivals new luxury condos in Manhattan.
但即便考虑上返利因素，新住宅单位的价格依然很贵。有些单位的价格达到了每平方英尺2,500美元，甚至更高，完全可以和曼哈顿的新建豪宅相媲美。
But the price cuts mark a sharp break from the overheated market of just two years ago, before the government stepped in to cool price increases.
但与此形成鲜明对比的是，就在两年前香港楼市还呈现过热景象，促使政府进行干预为楼市降温。
Incentives ranging from 18-month payment delays to limited-time discounts and cash rebates are aimed at stoking a market that turned stagnant last year as buyers sat out and transaction totals fell. Some developers also are offering second mortgages via nonbank finance companies worth up to 25% of the purchase price of more expensive properties. (Banks in Hong Kong are allowed to lend no more than 50% on apartments costing over 10 million Hong Kong dollars, or US$1.3 million.)
开发商推出了各种刺激措施，包括延迟18个月付款、限时折扣和返还现金等等。由于买家离场观望，市场总成交量下滑，去年香港楼市逐渐变得低迷，上述措施旨在提振市场。一些开发商还通过非银行金融公司提供二次按揭，按揭规模最高可以达到高价房总价的25%（对于超过1,000万港元（合130万美元）的住宅，按照规定，香港的银行提供的按揭贷款规模不能超过购房总额的50%）。
'Everybody is doing it,' Nicole Wong, a real-estate analyst at brokerage firm CLSA, said of the discounts. 'You've more supply fighting for a smaller amount of money and fewer buyers.'
里昂证券(CLSA)房地产分析师王艳(Nicole Wong)称，开发商都在打折，住房供应增多了，但资金和购房者却减少了。
After a bull run that sent house prices doubling from 2008 to 2013, the government sought to rein in the market with various measures starting in late 2012. They included higher minimum down payments and sales taxes levied on transactions, or stamp duties, of up to 8.5%. As a result, the number of Hong Kong real-estate transactions fell to a 23-year low last year.
香港房地产市场在2008年至2013年间经历了一轮牛市，房价上涨了一倍；从2012年年底开始，香港政府开始推出各种措施试图抑制房地产市场。这些措施包括提高首付门槛、将印花税税率上调至最高8.5%。结果，去年香港房地产交易量跌至23年低点。
Authorities also imposed a so-called double-stamp duty, of 17%, on property purchases made by non-Hong Kong residents, including those from mainland China, who often were blamed for pushing up the price of real estate.
香港政府还对非香港居民（包括中国大陆居民）购买地产征收17%的双倍印花税。大陆买家经常被指是香港房价上涨背后的推动因素。
Hong Kong's measures iced the market, especially deterring foreign buyers and speculators, according to analysts. The number of residential transactions declined 56% in 2013, according to government data. Prices rose only slightly compared with 2012, according to an index by property agency Centaline. Government figures show an increase in 2013, but a slight decline in the first two months of 2014.
分析师们称，香港的这些举措令香港地产市场陷入寒冬，尤其抑制了海外买家和投机者的购房意愿。香港政府的数据显示，2013年香港住宅交易量减少56%。根据房屋中介机构中原地产(Centaline)的数据，2013年香港住宅价格较2012年仅微幅上涨。根据香港政府的数据，2013年住宅价格上涨，但今年前两个月小幅下跌。
Developers have had to sweeten their offers. The discounts started to appear late last year.
开发商们已不得不加大了优惠力度。打折现象是去年年底开始出现的。
So far, efforts seem to be working. Spring is traditionally busy and large crowds of aspiring homeowners have crowded the showrooms at the launches of new projects.
目前来看，这些促销手段似乎开始奏效。春天通常是楼市旺季，一些新推出楼盘的展厅内挤满了看房者。
'It's like Marks & Spencer's with a Christmas sale,' said Wong Leung Sing, an analyst at Centaline, referring to the department-store chain.
中原地产分析师黄良升表示，新楼盘人头涌动的景象堪比马莎百货(Marks & Spencer Group)的圣诞节促销场面。
While fewer transactions are being done in the overall housing market, sales of new apartments are on the rise, according to government figures. Transactions increased 23% in the first quarter from a year earlier, for a total value of HK$32 billion, a 28% increase from last year.
香港政府的数据显示，虽然住房市场总体交易量减少，但新建住宅销量增加。与上年同期相比，今年第一季度的新住宅成交量增长23%，成交额增长28%，至320亿港元。
The Hong Kong government has said it has no intention of repealing the cooling measures at the moment.
香港政府已表示，目前尚无撤销上述楼市降温举措的打算。
Even luxury condos are being discounted. Connie Law, a 52-year-old homemaker, recently explored 10 new developments to buy. She settled on a three-bedroom apartment of 1,280 square feet in a new development in Hong Kong's middle-class Quarry Bay neighborhood.
一些高档住宅项目也加入看打折行列。想要购房的52岁的家庭主妇Connie Law近期看了十处新楼盘，最终选定了靠近口鱼涌的一套面积1,280平方英尺（合119平方米）、有三间卧房的住宅。口鱼涌是香港中产阶级聚居的地方。
Ms. Law said that after a 4.25% discount from the developer, her family paid HK$27.3 million for the flat, about twice the price of a comparably sized flat in the 29-year-old buildings that line the rest of the block. 'The discount was a help,' Ms. Law said.
Law女士表示，开发商给了4.25%的折扣，她的家庭支付的价格为2,730万港元，这大概相当于该地段一栋29年房龄旧楼中相似面积住宅单元售价的两倍。Law称，上述折扣不无小补。
The city's largest developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., is among the most aggressive in price cutting. In April, it opened a 144-unit development in the suburb of Fanling. With prices starting at HK$8,814 a square foot, the new units were offered at about 10% below similar-size units at a comparable one-year-old building nearby.
香港最大的房地产开发商新鸿基地产发展有限公司(Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., 简称：新鸿基地产)是降价动作最激进的公司之一。今年4月，该公司在粉岭郊区的144个单位的开发项目开盘，起价为每平方英尺8,814港元，比附近可比的一年前开盘的同等面积楼盘低了大约10%
The company said it would offer additional 5% discounts to those who paid in cash, 3% to anyone who signs a contract before May 31 and 2% for those who don't need a second mortgage to finance the purchase. Sun Hung Kai also is offering one-year bridge loans for as much as 70% of an apartment's value.
该公司说，将向那些现金支付房款的购房者提供额外5%的折扣，向在5月31日前签约的购房者提供3%的折扣，向那些不需要二次按揭的购房者提供2%的折扣。新鸿基地产提供一年期过渡性贷款，额度最高可达房屋价值的70%。
In February, the company set the price for a batch of 156 apartments at its large Riva project in suburban Yuen Long at 40% lower than for the first bunch of units it sold at the same development in March 2013.
今年2月，该公司为元朗郊区Riva 项目的156个住宅单位定的价格比2013年3月同一开发项目出售的第一批住宅低了40%。
A spokeswoman said the company's strategy adjusts prices 'to market sentiment.'
该公司发言人说，公司的策略是依照市场人气调整价格。
Earlier this year, at a new development called The Avenue in the city's bustling Wanchai neighborhood, Sino Land Co. and Hopewell Holdings Ltd. offered 17.5% discounts for cash buyers. Factoring in the discounts, the new units sold at around HK$19,000 a square foot, or about 20% cheaper than comparable upscale units in nearby buildings.
今年早些时候，在香港喧闹的湾仔区一个名为“The Avenue”的新开发项目上，信和置业有限公司(Sino Land Co.)和合和实业有限公司(Hopewell Holdings Ltd.)为现金购房者提供17.5%的折扣。把这一折扣计算进来之后，新住宅单位的售价大约为每平方英尺1.9万港元，比附近的可比高档住宅低大约20%。
The price reductions so far have been focused only on new apartments, but analysts say it is inevitable that sellers of existing units will follow suit.
截至目前，降价主要集中在待售住宅单位，但分析人士说，在售住宅单位的卖家将随后跟进，这是不可避免的。
Still, some home buyers remain cautious. After Raymond Ho, a 50-year-old accountant at an electronic-components company, sold his two-bedroom apartment in Kowloon, he was inundated with calls from agents. He is now looking to buy in one of several new developments in the northern New Territories suburbs for easier access to mainland China, where he often travels for work.
不过，一些购房者仍持谨慎态度。Raymond Ho现年50岁，在一家电子配件公司当会计，在售出自己在九龙的两居室之后，他的电话就被房地产中介给打爆了。如今，他正计划着在北部的新界郊区的几个新开发项目中买一套住宅，因为这里进出中国内地很方便，他为了工作的原因要经常到内地去。
He has looked at several developments but hasn't made an offer yet. 'The prices do look attractive at first glance, but I know that it's also a gimmick,' he said. 'There's a lot of choice.'
他已经去几个开发项目看过，但还没有做出购买决定。他说，价格初看起来挺有吸引力，但他知道那只是噱头。他说，有很多住宅可供选择。