Macao’s real estate market saw an uptick in the number of enquiries and inspections last weekend after news broke on 12 April that the government would be scrapping all its market curbs, Roy Ho, the senior director of Centaline Property (Macau), told local media.
According to Ho, the number of comments and shares on the property information videos he posts on social media has also increased more than tenfold.
He said the government’s decision would have an impact on the price of properties, but explained that, at the current rate of transaction, it could take ten months after all cooling measures have been scrapped before prices begin to pick up again.
The Centaline Property director added that purchases from local buyers were limited and that, in the long run, the authorities should consider ramping up investment promotion and relaxing the investment residency scheme.
[See more: Macao lifts all curbs on the local property market]
Last week, the Macao government declared its intention to liberalise the property market through the scrapping of various stamp duties and the suspension of the “two percent stress test” requirement for mortgages. (The latter is used by lenders to assess a borrower’s ability to pay if interest rates rise by two percent.)
The move has been well-received by the property sector, with the chairman of the Macau Real Estate Development Association, Peter Lok, praising the SAR government for “doing a good thing” and allowing “the local economy and property market to continue getting back on the right track.”
Other organisations, however, were more nuanced in their response, with the director of the Neighbourhood Youth Association of Macau, Chan Wai Leong, stating that the government should study the effects of the measures and make the necessary adjustments.
Faced with falling property prices and low transaction rates, Macao’s real estate sector has been calling on the government to remove all remaining curbs on the lacklustre market in recent years.
