Public works secretary defends gov’t housing prices

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário defended yesterday the pricing of the current phase of Economic Housing, citing legality and roots as the foundation.

Earlier, a group of interested Economic Housing buyers, in the company of lawmaker Ron Lam, submitted a signed petition letter to the Chief Executive to complain the pricing of the housing units. The price is set a MOP3,300 per square foot on average.

Discussing the letter, the official admitted of receiving it, adding that time is needed to analyze the complaint. He said that the pricing cannot be adjusted “because it’s not market price.”

The official reiterated the “complexity” and “legality” of the calculation of the pricing, when asked to explain why the average prices for the phases in 2019, 2021 and 2023 are similar.

Ending on Mar. 27, the phase of offering involves 5,415 apartments and attracted 5,481 applications. On the contrary, previous phases have attracted up to 35,000 applications in each opening.

The application period has been extended. Demand during this phase has been weak. The major difference between this phase and previous phases is that apartments from this phase onwards will be banned from resale to the market after blackout period, pursuant to law-in-action.

Given the weak demand, the official said that excessive or undesired Economic Housing apartments cannot be sold as Sandwich-class Housing units, when asked by the press. He explained that the former apartments are smaller than the latter ones. The construction style and layout for the latter housing are also different, he added. Nonetheless, he promised that studies will be commenced to investigate if Economic Housing projects in the coming phases cannot converted or adjusted to Sandwich-class Housing projects.