Local residents eye HK and China real estate markets

2014-4-8

From：Macau Daily Times

With real estate prices predicted to increase by 10 to 20 percent this year, many residents hoping to buy an apartment in Macau are actually starting to look elsewhere. Hong Kong and mainland China appear to be advantageous alternatives, according to a recently published Reuters report.
In the coming three years, the Las Vegas of the East is set to open more than 17,000 new hotel rooms, with current casino operators building new developments along the Cotai Strip. However, the government is only due to build a mere 4,000 affordable homes for locals over the same period.
The city’s real estate market is becoming one of the world’s costliest, as an average apartment can reach a price of USD500,000, thus outranking Hong Kong.
For one Macau resident, Mr Xian Dengbao, who works as a taxi driver, buying real estate is a desire that he might never fulfill. “Buying a flat? Not a chance, even if you work your entire life,” he despaired.
As the city’s population is set to increase by 20 percent by 2016, reaching 700,000, the demand for houses becomes consistently greater. A sales director at Centaline Property Agency outlined that skyrocketing prices have escalated rapidly: “Four years ago, you could buy a flat with MOP1 million. Now you can’t even buy a parking space,” said Cherrie Choi.
In this context, some residents are now eyeing real estate markets in neighboring regions, such as Hong Kong where their investment returns might double those that they could achieve in Macau.
Some of them are also buying in Chinese provinces, while others are actually resorting to more far-fetched measures, such as moving away to Thailand.
According to government figures, property prices have more than tripled since 2009, as gambling revenues have reached USD45 billion, much greater than those recorded in Las Vegas, Singapore or Australia.
Many argue that the lack of human resources will also affect Macau, as new gambling developments are underway. Analysts have estimated that casino resorts opening between 2015 and 2017 are due to require about 12,600 new casino dealers. However, a mere 700 seem to be available per year.

Copyright@Macau Daily Times