New policies boosted residential sales right from the start, Centaline claims

One of the largest market operators, Centaline Property Agency Limited, has reported that the new policies, implemented at the start of this year and aimed at boosting residential sales, are already showing positive effects.

According to a report from the property agency, the measures implemented, including exempting the first HKD6 million of home purchases from tax and raising the mortgage ceiling to 80%, “have already led to a noticeable rebound in market transactions,” Centaline said, adding, “It is estimated that the total number of residential transactions for the entire month of January exceeded 300, an 11% increase compared to the same period last year.”

The same property agency noted that since the measures were announced in November last year, during the government’s 2026 policy address, many buyers have been waiting for the policies to take effect.

According to Centaline, some of these buyers had already researched the market, marked down desirable units, and were on hold until January 1 to seal deals and take advantage of the new benefits.

The property agency remarked that the overall pace of the market in January had “accelerated significantly… shifting sentiment from last year’s widespread ‘wait-and-see’ attitude to ‘active observation’.”

Centaline’s online inquiries and viewing appointments reportedly surged threefold compared to December.

Looking ahead to 1H

Looking ahead to this month and the first half (1H) of 2026, Centaline said that transactions in February are expected to concentrate in the secondary market, with a new wave of primary launches expected between mid-March and early April following the Lunar New Year.

After the projects expected to launch between mid-March and early April are ready to sell, the agency claims Macau may experience an extended period without major new primary developments, indicating that transactions in the 2H of the year will be mostly secondary-market, that is, units being resold.