Macau (MNA) – The CEO of GW Investment Consulting, Matthew Ossolinski, told Macau News Agency (MNA) that Hengqin will become the main entry point to Macau in the future and that investment in office space in the neighbouring area being the most indicated for local residents.
“Hengqin will serve as a transportation hub for the western Pearl River Delta. National highways, bridges, rail lines, and airport links will all converge in Hengqin […] [it will be] a transport and immigration facility that is being built to accommodate up to 80 million visitors per year. Presently, no airport serves Hengqin but soon, three airports will be serving Hengqin,” Mr. Ossolinski told MNA.
According to the consultant, in the future Hengqin will be integrated to Macau and will give it the space to diversify its economy, with its family entertainment options to make it an Asian Orlando – the US city famous for its amusement parks – and the Asian Las Vegas.
“Together, Macau and Hengqin will be the entertainment capital of Asia. They will be accessible and integrated through infrastructure with other cities in the future Greater Bay Area megalopolis,’ he added.
Considering this estimations the consultant indicates that “directly and indirectly” the four main ways for Macau citizens to invest in Hengqin lays in real estate investments in apartments, offices and retail space.
Ossolinsky considered that it was an appropriate time for investments in office space on Hengqin, since the “enormous” amount of new supply coming to market at the same time, made it “relatively inexpensive”.
“My firm’s research reports conclude that on a forward-looking basis rental yields will be far higher than in Macau or Hong Kong. Sales prices are currently a fraction of the region’s comparable markets. On a smaller scale, Hengqin will do for Macau what Pudong did for Shanghai,’ he stated.
However the consultant advised against investments in residential property in the region, with the best window having occurred a few years ago “when prices were half of today’s”.
“Maybe if the market crashes temporarily, then it will be another buying opportunity,” he stated.
The consultant also manages a Macau gaming fund, and stated that the downturn in gaming stock prices over the past five months presented a good buying opportunity
“For investors who can stomach short term volatility in return for longer term gains. Buying Macau gaming stocks now is indirectly a bet on Hengqin, as well. […] Nobody stands to gain more from Hengqin’s buildout than the Cotai integrated resorts,” he stated,
“Hengqin will effectively add tens of thousands of hotel rooms to Cotai’s inventory, in what remains a supply-driven market. It will also add non-gaming tourism attractions to the mix—emulating Cotai’s critical-mass business model”.
Local real estate consultancy Ambiente Properties and GW Investment Consulting will organise an Investors Tour of Hengqin on November 16 to showcase the development and future of the neighbouring Free Trade Zone, with Ossolinsky to lead the tour.
According to the consultant, he is also an investor in Hengqin and Macau and has conducted tours for Wall Street hedge funds and other gaming-focused institutional investors through the neighbouring area.
