Hong Kong (CNN) -- For sale: Hong Kong apartment with sweeping sea views and three rooms, all signs of a recent grisly murder in the bathroom eliminated, will take offers between 15-20% below market value. In Hong Kong, where superstitions can make or break a property deal, a real estate advertisement like this is not beyond the realms of the fantastic. With the local property market showing signs of cooling, almost every angle is worked to increase yields, and a trade in so-called haunted houses is now a visible feature of the market. "There are a group of people that go around and bid on them," explains Eric Wong, a realtor with Hong Kong's Squarefoot.com.hk. "Chinese people, especially in Hong Kong, don't like houses where something unfortunate has happened.
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Hong Kong people tend to shun houses where the occupant met a violent death
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The apartments are known as "hongza" in Cantonese, meaning "calamity houses"
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'"Hongza" apartments can sell at a steep discount, sometimes as much as 40%
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Buyers still trade in the apartments, which can show a strong yield on the rental market
@placeholder houses can sometimes sell for as low as 40% below the city average, although 15-20% is more usual.