Hong Kong dazzles with its soaring skyscrapers and swanky shopping malls, and the city has its bankers to thank. Over the years, landlords routinely relied on banks to finance ambitious projects and expected good relationships to remain. But lenders are getting nervous.

Next year, close to HK$200 billion ($25.6 billion) of bank loans taken out by Hong Kong’s property developers will be due, and only 15% of them have been — or are close to being — refinanced, according to HSBC Holdings Plc estimates.