REAL ESTATE | Prices of residential and commercial units see consistent decline

The average price of a residential unit in Macau has fallen by 11.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to a value of MOP84,342 per square meter for the third quarter of 2015, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The average price of existing residential units decreased by 6.2 percent over the past quarter to MOP76,711 per square meter, with Coloane, Taipa and the Macau peninsula slipping by 9.1 percent, 8.8 percent, and 4.9 percent respectively. Meanwhile, prices for pre-sale residential units fell by 9.2 percent, 4.5 percent and 1.7 percent respectively for the same areas, with the average price recorded at MOP113,857 per square meter.
The average price per square meter of office units decreased by 13.0 percent quarter-on-quarter to MOP102,967, while that of industrial units dropped by 9.1 percent to MOP50,205.
For the third quarter of 2015, there were 2,734 real estate sale contracts signed involving 2,747 properties, up by 8.6 percent quarter-on-quarter. At the same time, 2,949 mortgage contracts were signed, down slightly by 0.9 percent.
However, the number and value of real estate transactions in the third quarter decreased by 24.7 percent for residential and 30.7 percent for commercial properties. Of these transactions, pre-sale residential units saw a drop of over 40 percent in both the number and the value of transactions. A total of 2,323 transactions involving building units and parking spaces were recorded, valued at MOP12.49 billion in the third quarter.
In terms of construction in the private sector, the gross floor area of new construction projects totaled 465,456 square meters, while that of completed buildings amounted to 106,285 square meters.