Housing Market on the March

The city’s housing prices picked up momentum in the second quarter of 2016, although the year’s residential price index was still lower than that for 2015, notes the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) in its latest survey released yesterday.
According to DSEC, the overall residential price index fell 3.4 per cent year-on-year to 219.3 for 2016, a narrower decrease compared to the 227 of 2015.
In particular, the price index of housing units on the Macau Peninsula registered a decrease of 3.9 per cent year-on-year to 222 whilst that for Taipa & Coloane posted only a mild decrease of 0.4 per cent year-on-year to 207.
The local census body notes the index – calculated with 2011 as the base year – is compiled on the basis of methodology proposed by the University of Macau in the study report ‘Compilation of Residential Price Index of Macau’ released in October 2016. The report used administrative records of application for payment of stamp duty provided by the Financial Services Bureau.
By type of property, the price index for completed housing units was 225, a decrease of 3.8 per cent year-on-year. In particular, average prices for those units built over 20 years ago went down by 3.6 per cent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, average prices for housing units under construction dropped by 2 per cent year-on-year to 200.8 during the year.
In terms of size, the price index for units with a floor area of less than 50 square metres decreased by 4.9 per cent year-on-year to 221.7 whilst those with a floor area of 75 to 99.9 square metres and those with 100 square metres or more posted a lower drop, both down 3.2 per cent year-on-year.

Momentum
Throughout the year 2016, the second quarter reversed the downtrend in residential housing prices, registering an increase of 6.9 per cent quarter-to-quarter. The trend was followed by the third and the last quarter of the year, which posted an increase of 2.8 per cent and 4.3 per cent quarter-to-quarter, respectively.
Nevertheless, on a year-on-year basis, the downtrend in the home market was only halted in the fourth quarter of 2016, when an increase of 10.3 per cent year-on-year in the average prices was evident.
DSEC notes the highest level of the city’s housing prices were between the second and third quarter of 2014, with the indices for the Macau Peninsula (233.7) and Taipa & Coloane (230.1) rising 7.8 per cent and 23.2 per cent year-on-year, respectively.
The government bureau adds such information on the residential price index will be regularly released in the quarterly brief report of ‘Private Construction and Real Estate Transactions’ from now on.