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Property | Market Watch
Strong sales Sales of residential property across the first five months of the year have been strong, accounting for 85 percent of the value of all of last year’s transactions by Alan Tso
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atest official statistics show that 7,713 homes were sold in the first five months of this year – about 68 percent of the total number of residential properties sold in the whole of last year. The value of the houses sold was MOP18.4 billion, just MOP3.1 billion August 2010
shy of the aggregate transaction value of last year. In May, a total of 1,627 homes were sold. It was the second biggest transaction volume recorded this year and represents a year-on-year rise of more than 100 percent. In combination, these figures are
signs of the revival of Macau’s property market that, so far, appears to have been unaffected by the mainland’s measures to curb property prices. As Macau’s gaming revenues continue to soar, the local housing market is afforded plenty of momentum to sustain its upswing.
Upswing should continue
According to Centaline Property, one of Macau’s leading estate agencies, although housing prices have increased by eight percent in the first half of the year, they are still 10 percentage points below the peak in value recorded in 2008. It is expected that housing prices will continue to climb in the foreseeable future. Looking back over the second quarter, the real estate agency has highlighted several high-profile transactions that underline the bullish sentiment.