Around one-third of Hengqin home buyers in 2017 were locals

Stanley C. M. Poon, managing director of Centaline Macau

In a press conference yesterday, Centaline Macau Property Agency Limited (Centaline Property) announced that they are “very optimistic” about the real estate market development in Hengqin.

Contrary to predictions, the actual number of online property transactions in Zhuhai, in 2017, decreased 55.7 percent year-on- year to approximately 29,576, with 3,815 transactions being recorded in Hengqin, down 39.5 percent.

Even though these decreases were recorded from Hengqin and the entire Zhuhai area, non-residence property transactions still surged up to 3,344 transactions.

In 2017, the most popular area for investment in Hengqin remained the border service area, where the number of properties sold grew 154.92 percent year-on-year, with transactions of properties in Hengqin’s port area occupying 47 percent of the total.

Centaline Property holds optimistic expectations for the property market in Hengqin’s recreational region in 2018.

According to Centaline Property’s statistics, in 2017, 32.34 percent of Hengqin property buyers were Macau residents, 18.8 percent were Zhuhai residents and 18 percent were Hong Kong residents.

“First, the transportation [to Hengqin] is indeed convenient, […] the HKZMB will open soon. […] I think we all can see the obvious [growth in Hengqin’s property price],” said Stanley C. M. Poon, managing director of Centaline Macau Property Agency Limited.

Regarding Macau, 8,315 property transactions were recorded in 2017, with the property price for each square meter sitting at approximately MOP100,000, representing 17 percent growth.

Centaline Property foresees that, once the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge becomes operational, more capital, goods, and human flow will enter Macau, which will pull the city’s real estate market upwards.

The company expects Macau’s property prices to increase about 15 percent this year.

In 2017, 284 and 117 transactions were recorded concerning office and industrial spaces, respectively.

For an office space, the average per square foot price was MOP7,500 and for office space in different areas near NAPE the average per square foot price was MOP6,800. The price for a traditional office space at Nam Van area averaged MOP7,400, and MOP14,000 for “A level” office spaces.

Centaline Property predicted that there is a chance Macau’s commercial property prices might return to MOP10,000 per square foot in 2018 due to the opening of the HKZMB and the development of the Greater Bay Area.

Regarding shops, Centaline Property expects a 20 to 30 percent increase in the number of transactions in 2018.

On the sidelines of the press conference, Poon also disclosed that Centaline Property (Macau) received a total of MOP175 million in commissions last year – about MOP140 million of which was generated from Macau, and MOP30 million from Hengqin.

“Basically, both places recorded increases, but [the increases] were slightly smaller than those of 2016,” said Poon, adding that “many of [my] colleagues are optimistic about 2018. […] hoping that both sides [Macau and Hengqin] combined will accumulate MOP280 million in commissions [in 2018].”