HKZMB | Hengqin property deals surge on Delta Bridge effect

The skyline of Hengqin where construction projects are underway, as seen from Macau

The number of residential property transactions in Hengqin increased more than 75 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, Centaline Property (Macau) revealed yesterday during a press conference, with the company director attributing the rise in part to the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macau Bridge.

“It is mainly due to the promulgation of the Outline Development Plan of the Greater Bay Area, the acceleration of the development of the GBA, and the opening of the Hong Kong -Zhuhai-Macau Bridge,” said Roy Ho, director of Centaline Macau.

“This year may be the year when the highest number of transactions will be registered,” predicted Ho Chao San, another director of Centaline Macau.

“As we can see, buildings in Hengqin are being finished beside the HKZMB. There is a policy in Hengqin that, as of 2020, all of these buildings’ first phase must be completed,” said Ho. “We can see that some of the skyscrapers’ external structures are ready.”

“We can see Hong Kong buyers coming to Hengqin to buy the properties, and they mainly buy shops with the purpose of collecting rents,” said Ho. “There are also many Macau buyers, and they are basically the major buyers, representing 70 percent of the total.”

Regarding buyers, 27 percent, 19 percent and 20 percent of Hengqin properties are Zhuhai residents, Hong Kong residents and Macau residents, respectively.

Most of the Macau residents purchase mainly shops and offices in Hengqin, according to Ho.

Currently, Hengqin is still the priority choice of Macau’s property investors in Guangdong province, followed by Zhongshan.

“However, Zhuhai and Hengqin are still the main markets because property prices in Zhuhai are rather low. There are many beneficial policies for Zhuhai when compared to Shenzhen, so Zhuhai is more attractive,” said Ho.

In total, 231 residential unit transactions were officially registered in Hengqin during the first quarter, representing 32 percent of all the island’s property transactions in that period. Hengqin accounted for about 7.3 percent of Zhuhai’s 9,805 property transactions in the first quarter, which itself climbed about 40 percent year-on-year.

The most popular area in terms of property sales in Hengqin is the district’s integrated service zone, from which 291 property transactions were registered, representing 41 percent of Hengqin’s total transactions.

Following the integrated service zone, the next highest number of transactions was recorded by the port service zone, with a total of 153 transactions, and then the central business district, from which 146 transactions were registered.

In the remainder of 2019, it is estimated that Zhuhai will have a total of 14 property projects enter the market, providing approximately 260,000 square meters for business purposes, 771,000 square meters for office purposes, 90,000 square meters for residence purposes, and 232,000 square meters for cultural and creative purposes.