Centaline calls on govt to extend non-locals’ stay through flat purchases

Roy Ho

Realtor Centaline Property has urged the government to extend the stay in Macau for non-locals who have purchased flats or established their businesses in the region, citing the ongoing low-price situation in the local retail, commercial, and residential property markets.

The property agency held a press conference yesterday to review the city’s property market for the first quarter and to provide forecasts for the year.

According to the press conference at ICBC tower in Nam Van, Macau’s home prices is currently in a U-shaped state, with greater downward pressure at the beginning of the year. Centaline expects the city’s property price to undergo another wave of downward adjustments, potentially falling by another 10 to 20 %, with the average monthly transaction volume in the second quarter to be remain low, hovering around 200 cases.

“In the absence of new policy stimulus, real estate transactions were sluggish in the first quarter [in 2025…], with an average of less than 200 transactions per month,” John Ng, district director for Residential Department of Centaline Property, said. He acknowledged that, although market sentiment briefly rebounded in the middle of last year following the introduction of property cooling measures by the government, it turned sluggish again by the end of the year.

Citing data from the Financial Services Bureau (DFS), Centaline estimated the total number of residential flat transactions for the first quarter reached only 646. In terms of pricing, the average price per square meter of saleable area – the floor area of a residential property enclosed by walls – in the first quarter was about 74,800 patacas, a drop of about 12.6% compared to the same period last year.

According to the property agency, due to the impact of the “Northbound Travel for Macau Vehicles” policy and the external economic environment, rental transactions and rents in Macau have shown a slight downward trend.

In contrast, the volume of residential transactions in Zhuhai has continued to rise. Among them, the proportion of transactions by Macau buyers increased from 5% in 2023 to 10% last year.

Similarly, the total number of shop transactions fell in the first quarter.

Citing DFS data, Roy Ho, director of Centaline Macau and Zhuhai Hengqin Property, noted that the number of shop transactions in January stood at 21, with estimates of about 18 and 23 transactions in February and last month, respectively. He pointed out that in the first quarter, the northern district remained the mainstay of transactions, while the tourism district was primarily dominated by leasing and individual bulk transactions.

Ho stated that the duration of the low level will depend on factors such as the pace of interest rate cuts in the US and the effectiveness of the local government’s bailout efforts. His suggestions include subsidizing down payments and interest rates for home purchases to support more residents in transitioning from renting to buying during a period of low property prices; allowing individuals who have established companies in Macau and paid a certain level of tax to rent homes and stay long-term; extending the length of stay for those who have purchased flats in Macau; and launching an investment residency program.

As early as 2000, the government implemented the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme to stimulate the property market. In the first phase of the scheme, the threshold for real estate investment was set at one million patacas.

After 2005, immigrants were required to have tertiary qualifications, a limited scope of family members, and a fixed deposit of 500,000 patacas for seven years.

Between 2000 and 2005, according to the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the government accepted a total of 7,939 applications for real estate investment residence.

The total amount of investment involved was about 10 billion patacas, with 27,589 approved applicants subsequently obtaining Macau ID cards.

Reportedly, the government suspended the scheme in 2007 due to concerns that it had caused the property market to overheat, leading to soaring housing prices beyond the affordability of residents.

Additionally, the excessive number of applications created administrative pressure, with some cases involving non-compliance. Staff Reporter