At a half-built residential development a few blocks from Apple’s biggest iPhone plant in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, Wang Lina has made an unusual offer to attract business following a 10 per cent price drop over the past 12 months.

Instead of requiring a standard 30 per cent downpayment, the sales manager has asked for a 5 per cent deposit and makes up the difference by offering a two-year, interest-free loan funded by the project’s developer.

“We once hoped that the expansion of Foxconn would bring in migrant workers and boost home sales,” she said, referring to the world’s largest contract manufacturer that built a production base in the city of 10m people a decade ago. “But it didn’t work out that way and we have to do what we can to make ends meet.”