Residential and commercial real estate lending in Macau weakened in July, while foreign exchange reserves recorded a modest increase in August, according to data released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM).
New residential mortgage loans (RMLs) approved by banks totaled MOP1.05 billion in July, down 0.3% from June. Lending to residents, which accounted for 98.6% of approvals, rose 1.6% to MOP1.04 billion, while lending to non-residents fell 55.4% to MOP15.2 million. On a three-month moving average, new RML approvals stood at MOP1.02 billion, up 5.9% from the prior period.
Commercial real estate loans (CRELs) saw a sharper contraction, plunging 84.9% to MOP284.2 million from a high base the previous month. Resident borrowers, making up 96.4% of the total, registered an 85.2% decline to MOP273.9 million, while non-resident loans fell 67.9% to MOP10.3 million.
Separately, AMCM reported that the city’s preliminary foreign exchange reserves stood at MOP235.4 billion (USD29.33 billion) at the end of August, up 0.7% from July’s revised level. The reserves represented 11 times the currency in circulation and 87.9% of pataca M2 at end-July. LV
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