Macao’s property market remains downcast, according to data from the Monetary Authority of Macao, which shows that the amount of new residential mortgage loans totalled 724.09 million patacas (US$89.8 million) in February, a drop of 45.4 percent in comparison to January’s 1.32 billion patacas (US$163.8 million).
Some 98.3 percent of the new residential mortgages approved in February belonged to local residents, with the value reaching 711.54 million patacas (US$88.3 million), down by almost 45 percent month-on-month.
Non-residents accounted for just 1.73 percent of these loans, hitting a total of 12.54 million patacas (US$1.56 million), a fall of roughly 65 percent against January’s figure.
By contrast, new commercial real estate loans rose to 1.53 billion patacas (US$189.8 million) in February, representing a month-on-month growth of 4.4 percent when compared to the 1.46 billion patacas (US$181 million) registered in January.
Roughly 1.25 billion patacas (US$155.1 million) in new commercial property loans were made to Macao residents, representing 82.5 percent of the total, a jump of 7.1 percent month-on-month. Foreign investors made up the remaining 267.24 million patacas (US$33.1 million) in commercial loans, down 6.5 percent against January.
As for the outstanding value of residential mortgages, it totalled 216.86 billion patacas (US$26.9 billion), dropping by 0.4 percent month-on-month. Outstanding commercial loans also fell, decreasing by 0.2 percent to 149.88 billion patacas (US$18.6 billion).
[See more: Macao’s residential property price index shows no signs of recovery]
Meanwhile, the delinquency ratio for residential loans remained stable, totalling 3.6 percent, a figure that is consistent with the month before. The bad loan rate for commercial loans also corresponded with January’s, hitting 5.4 percent.
Aside from the current mortgage data, the recently published residential property price index for the period from December 2024 and February 2025 also points to the lack of vitality in Macao’s property market.
The index for that period totalled 202.3 points, a drop of 0.9 percent against the previous period between November 2024 and January 2025.
Residential property prices per square metre also fell by 10 percent last month, from 77,257 patacas (US$9,585) in the second half of February to 69,343 patacas (US$8,603) in the first half of March.
Ung Choi Kun, the chair of the Association of Property Agents and Realty Developers of Macau, has called for the government to take action, describing the sector as operating “in an unfavourable environment.”
The ongoing trade war between China and the US and the sluggish world economy could prove to be obstacles to a rebound in the local property sector as well, according to Peter Lok Wai Tak of the Macau Real Estate Development Association.
