Real estate | Number of residential units sold increases 50pct

As per the Stamp Duty record, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has published a statement stating that a total of 5,132 building units and parking spaces were purchased during the fourth quarter of 2016, and the total value of transactions amounted to MOP29.33 billion. Compared to the third quarter, the two figures rose by 62.1 percent and 70.4 percent, respectively.

Of this total, the purchase and sale of residential units totaled 3,575 in the last quarter of 2016, valued at MOP23.38 billion. These figures represented an increase of nearly 50 percent in terms of sales and by 60.7 percent in terms of value over the third quarter.

More recently, the number of residential transactions in January soared by around 60 percent, according to data released by the Financial Services Bureau.

The significant increase in the number of residential properties sold during the fourth quarter coincides with the recent stabilization of the gaming sector. September 2016, the last month before the start of the fourth quarter, broke the 29-month trend of contraction in gaming revenues. Growth in the sector has since been uninterrupted.

Broadly speaking, the value of properties continued to grow during the fourth quarter, in terms of average price per square meter. Residential units across the MSAR reached about MOP95,000 per square meter, up by 7.3 percent quarter-to-quarter.

The average price of pre-sale residential units increased by 4.7 percent to around MOP123,600, with those in Coloane, the Macau Peninsula and Taipa rising by 23.1 percent, 6.5 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. According to DSEC, the average price of existing units increased marginally by 0.1 percent quarter-to-quarter to about MOP81,300 per square meter, with those in the Macau Peninsula and Coloane rising by 6.4 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively. Existing unit prices in Taipa fell by 9.1 percent in the same period.

Meanwhile, driven by the release of large-scale housing estates, the transaction volume and value of pre-sale residential units surged by 187.6 percent and 157.7 percent, respectively. The transaction volume of parking spaces also soared by 138 percent, with more than half of the parking spaces being pre-sale units. 

For the entirety of 2016, the volume and value of real estate transactions increased to a total of 14,108 units and MOP74.13 billion, up by 44.4 percent and 43.5 percent, respectively. The number of residential units purchased went up by 70.2 percent to 10,170. DB