Developers lure buyers with price cuts

Real estate developers are offering discounts in December in an effort to cash in on a positive buyer sentiment, latest industry data showed.

A total of 165 new residential projects across the city, both apartment and villa developments, are offering discounts — 20 more projects than last month and an increase of seven from the same period a year earlier, Fang.com, previously known as Soufun.com, said in a report.

Among them, 10 projects are offering a minimum 10 percent off.

As much as 78.8 percent of the projects are located in the suburbs and beyond the city's Outer Ring Road.

December will be the second month in 2014 when the number of housing projects offering discounts exceed 150, just below October's 167.

The latest interest rate cut by the central bank, coupled with adjusted mortgage policies for home buyers, fueled a buying momentum and many developers, most of whom are struggling to meet their sales targets this year, are looking for ways to boost sales with lucrative discounts.

The Pudong New Area and Jiading District continued to dominate for the third consecutive month in terms of the number of projects offering discounts, followed by Baoshan, Qingpu and Songjiang districts.