The plots of land to be auctioned by the government are not expected to sell for high amounts, an executive from a regional realty agency told the Times yesterday.
On Wednesday, the government announced that two plots of land, identified as BT8 and BT9a, would be put up for public semi-blind auctions. Bidding will end at 12 noon on Sep. 26, and all bids will be revealed to the public on Sep. 27, at 10am for BT8 and at 3 p.m. for BT9a.
In an exclusive interview, John Ng, principal regional sales director at Centaline Macau Enterprise Limited, said that despite all the good messages represented by the news about a land auction after 15 years, he did not expect the closing price of the auction to be high. The two land plots – diagonally across Nova Mall in Taipa – come with starting prices of MOP1.136 billion and MOP777 million.
Ng did some calculations and concluded that the per-square-foot price is about MOP3,000. Judging from the current pricing of residential apartments in Taipa, he believed the closing price is unlikely to be higher than MOP6,000 per square foot. However, he pointed out that land auction is not a simple procedure and will involve many processes, so the price may fluctuate.
Another critical factor having impact on the price is the presence of external bidders. This auction is open to external bidders, and Ng thought that bidders from Hong Kong and mainland China might be interested, because to external bidders, land auction is a more transparent manner of land assignment.
On the other hand, he finds the auction a very positive message from the government that it strives to ensure supply of housing to the people. Recalling the past years, there has not been enough supply of real properties in Taipa. Although there has been some private transaction of land ownership or development rights, it was not an official auction, he emphasized. Moreover, the two land plots are located in the emerging center of Taipa, with a lifestyle shopping mall a block away, so it will provide support to the real property market. As a result, he sees this as a very strong message from the government.
When asked about the segmenting of the future development, Ng expects it to be high-end residential projects, with the mode of land acquisition and general price levels in Taipa being influential.
