Statistics | Building unit purchases experience sharp decline

Information released yesterday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has indicated that a total of 1,928 building units and parking spaces have been purchased in the first quarter of 2016, showing a reduction of 22.3 percent from the previous quarter. The value of the entities sold amounted to MOP8.45 billion, down 23.5 percent compared with the first quarter of last year.
Purchase and sale of residential units totaled 1,215 or MOP5.55 billion in the first quarter, down by 16.8 percent and 20.6 percent quarter-on-quarter respectively.
Of these, sales of pre-sale residential units also fell by 26.9 percent to 133 units, with the total value of sales falling by 38.1 percent to MOP910 million.
In the first quarter of 2016, the average price of residential units decreased by 4.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to MOP72,955 per square meter of usable space. Pre-sale residential units decreased by 8.9 percent to MOP94,165 per square meter. Further, the average price of pre-sale residential units in the Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane fell by 16.1 percent, 9.4 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.
Analyzing the value of residential property by the year of completion yields some interesting results. The 679 residential units that were built more than 20 years ago resulted in an average price amounting to MOP59,832 per square meter, down by 1.1 percent quarter-on-quarter.
For the 256 residential units completed between 11 and 20 years ago, the average price dropped by 1.9 percent to MOP70,912 per square meter, while 67 residential units completed 5 years ago or less decreased by 4.6 percent to MOP98,005 per square meter.
The average price of office units decreased by 4.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to MOP97,568 per square meter, while that of industrial units increased by 14.6 percent to MOP43,850 per square meter.
In the first quarter of 2016, there were 2,595 real estate sale contracts signed, involving 2,599 properties, down by 8.6 percent compared with the previous quarter. Meanwhile, 2,522 mortgage contracts were signed, involving 3,283 properties, down by 14.9 percent.