Macau tightens mortgage rules

The government had decided to tighten its mortgage rules from today, lowering the percentage of mortgage available to all except local first-time buyers, in order to ensure stability in the local housing market, Government Information Bureau (GCS) Director Victor Chan Chi Ping, said Thursday.
 
According to The Macau Post Daily, Victor Chan – the government’s chief spokesperson – announced the measure during a hastily arranged press conference at Government Headquarters.
 
Lau Hang Kun, the deputy chief of the Banking Supervision Department of the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM), said when addressing the press conference that housing prices in the first quarter of the year were 4.7 percent higher than in the previous quarter, and 20 percent higher than in the first quarter of last year.
 
According to Lau, 98.9 percent of property buyers in the first quarter were local residents, while 50.7 percent already owned at least one flat.
 
Under the new measure, mortgages available to local first-time buyers remain unchanged. For a flat valued at or below 3.3 million patacas, the maximum available mortgage is 90 percent of the purchase price with a loan cap of 2.31 million patacas.
 
For a flat valued between 3.3 million patacas and 6 million patacas, the available mortgage is 70 percent of the purchase price with a loan cap of 3.6 million patacas.
 
For a flat valued between 6 million patacas and 8 million patacas, the available mortgage is 60 percent of the purchase price with a loan cap of 4 million patacas.
 
For a flat valued over 8 million patacas, the maximum mortgage available is half of the purchase price.
 
For local residents who are not first-time buyers, the maximum mortgage for all categories and the respective loan caps was reduced between 10 percent and 20 percent.
 
For all non-local buyers, the maximum mortgage available was reduced by 10 percent on the previous rates.