The government should drop some of the existing market-cooling measures to help economic revival, the Macau office head of an international realty agency told a press conference yesterday.
The call was based on the assumption or forecast that in the second half of this year, real property prices in Macau will see an average drop of 5% from the level that is already 10% short of the historical high.
Reviewing market figures from the first half of the year at yesterday’s press conference, Oliver Tong, general manager at JLL Macau and Zhuhai, said many of these measures, which he described as tough, were formulated some 10 years ago. “The backdrop and the market have become so much different.”
When asked what precise measures he hopes the government can loosen, he mentioned the buyer special stamp duty, the mortgage ceiling and the two-year resale blackout period.
He wondered if there would be any change to the buyer special stamp duty restricting purchases by non-locals, after the government actualizes its talent-attracting scheme.
“Will accredited talents be subject to the same stamp duty?” he asked. “What about people from within the Greater Bay Area?” He said he was not calling for a complete relaxation of the stamp duty.
In addition, he was also asked for his views on the government’s proposal to restrict Rua de Felicidade for pedestrians only. The realtor supports the proposal, seeing possibilities of reviving the commercial property market within the neighborhood.
However, he stressed that revivals are not only about pedestrian-zoning the district. What is more important is the manner of investment and leases persuasion and negotiation. The establishment of a unique character is also crucial to the success of similar projects, he added.
The realty agency also runs project-based lease pitching, such as for the Resorts World Macau complex situated opposite Wynn Macau.
The realty agency has also suggested the government expedite its activity to permit talent acquisition and improve procedures for issuing financial licenses, Matt Kou, senior manager of leasing at the agency told the press conference. He said that, as part of a trend seen in the first half of the year, several major insurance agencies had sought or even rented office spaces ranging in area from 6,000 to 10,000 square feet.
Discussing retail in Macau, despite seeing historical highs at MOP24 billion in sales, Tong expects the figure is inclined to drop in the second half of the year, for several reasons, including a deflating RMB and the Northbound Travel by Macau Vehicles scheme. The former will make mainland people’s consumption in Macau more expensive, while both factors will attract more Macau residents to spend their money across the border.
Shop rental will see impacts from the high interest rate, Kou said, adding that the agency had suggested commercial space owners enhance the attractiveness of their properties.
When asked if the minimum wage review will affect the property management operations of JLL, Ben Tse, head of property and asset management at JLL in Macau and Zhuhai, said that current measures, such as IT equipment and the provisioning of value-adding services, will help even out the impact.
