Macau real estate on the road to recovery

Despite the setbacks of the pandemic, the property market is set to bounce back

2023 marked itself as the year of recovery from the pandemic. The Macau Daily Times reported that the property market would continue to recover now that the pandemic-induced restrictions are being lifted. However, despite the market’s promising future, no actual improvements will be revealed to the public until official economic data is revealed.

Residential property transactions in 2022 weren’t the ideal case. The number of transactions only reached up to 300 a month in the first half of last year, while the second half only saw a slight boost due to a rare building sale in October. Aside from that, there were relatively no increases in property transactions.

There was a 50 percent decrease in the number of transactions compared to 2021. The sudden flares of infections in 2022 slowed down sales to the point where licensed property agents only sold around one property each, and the sales were far between. Compared to over 7,700 flats bought and sold in 2019, 2022 only saw less than 3,000 sales.

More: Residential project in Guangdong-Macau Zone to finish late 2023

Nevertheless,Ung Choi Kun, president of the Association of Property Agents and Realty Developers of Macau, told Macau Business on the possible future of the property market and what local authorities could do to help it grow. Though he expressed hopefulness for the housing market, he also knew that a sudden rebound in a short time is not feasible, but the longer term would see success.

Despite this, Ung continued on to express his hopes for the growth of the property market.

“A sustainably healthy housing market requires a balance between demand and supply. I hope that the government would continue to optimise tax policies for flats, including the special stamp duty on flat reselling, and the loan-to-value ratio for first-time buyers.”

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].