Macau, China, 15 Aug – Another agglomeration of new private flats will flood the local property market as a total of 5,951 flats are being built, 345 have been built, and 356 have been granted occupation permits, according to the latest figures released by the Lands, Public Works and Transportation Bureau (DSSOPT) Sunday.
Although it was reported that the real estate sector is expecting the price for pre-owned flats to drop five to seven percent as 4,000 flats from the government’s subsidised home-ownership scheme are going to be sold some time this year, property agency Centaline Macau President Jacky Shek Po Tak told The Macau Post Daily that these public housing flats would have little effect on the new flats in the private sector.
“Adjusting the limit so that more people are eligible to buy home-ownership flats is a good move by the government, but the condition that prohibits people from reselling the flats within 16 years will lower people’s desire to buy them,” Shek said, explaining that with the flexibility to buy and sell properties freely, private flats are still appealing for home-buyers.
Shek, however, pointed out that prices of 20- to 30-year old private flats would be hit by the home-ownership flats when they are put on the market.
“But most of these owners bought the flat 20 years ago, which means that they bought the flat at a price that is far below the current market price, and have finished paying their mortgages. These owners are mainly those looking to sell up and put the money down as a deposit on a new one,” Shek added.
According to Shek, the price for new flats in the private market ranges between 3,000 and 4,000 patacas per square foot, and owners of pre-owned flats are asking for at least 3,000 patacas per square foot. In addition, official data shows that the total number of private property transactions in Macau stood at 17,000 last year.
“As people’s incomes have increased, they look for better accommodation. People who are selling up are looking for properties with leisure and clubhouse facilities,” Shek pointed out, adding that the occupancy rate of properties in Macau , including newly built flats, was high.
Shek also said that although there was “zero” property speculation now since the government introduced a special stamp duty (SSD),property prices had not dropped significantly.
The SSD is one of the government’s property market cooling measures that imposes a levy of 20 percent of the transaction price for flats, complete or incomplete, that are resold within a year, or 10 percent if resold within two years.
“The government won’t impose measures that would have a big impact on the market. If the market collapses, there’ll be a lot of other problems,” Shek said, urging people to only purchase a property, whether subsidised home-ownership or private, when they are financially capable to do so.(MacauNews/Politics)
