New residential mortgage loans (RMLs) approved by Macau banks rose by 29.7% month-to-month to MOP2.66 billion in March, data from the Monetary Authority of Macao shows.
New RMLs to residents, representing 98.5% of the total, grew by 29.0% to MOP2.62 billion.
Last month, real property agency Centaline observed that prices of local premium residential units have recently experienced a new low.
In the statement, Centaline Property related that a recent transaction concerning a two-bedroom apartment in the Nova Taipa Gardens was concluded with a price tag of HKD6.8 million, which was about 15% short of its pre-Covid price level.
According to the firm, the drop was mainly caused by a loss of purchasing power and confidence due to the lay-off of a significant number of gambling industry workers.
It was also recalled that many local families had been considering purchasing apartments.
They are in the lease market currently and waiting for the best moment to close the deals.
With that said, the forecast was that the average price of residential properties would likely see an increase up to 5%.
Meanwhile, new RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) fell month-to-month by 25.2% to MOP448.0 million. On an annual basis, new equitable mortgages approved rose by 42.4%. LV
