50 property
Contraction action
as the economic meltdown continues to wreak global havoc, a bleak overall
outlook is emerging for the rest of 2009 and this means, at best, mixed news
for the city’s property market
by Jack Regan
a
CROSS the board, analysts are tinuing: “Entering 2009, we forecast that quarter on quarter in the fourth quar-
predicting a slump in demand Macau’s home prices will fall another 10- ter of 2008.
- both in the buying and leasing 20 percent this year. In particular, luxury Colliers also says that on the back of
sectors - and falling prices as economic home prices may register a steeper de- a contracting labour market, many poten-
activity contracts as a result of the global cline as the expatriate working popula- tial property buyers are putting their de-
financial crisis. tion shrinks.” cisions to buy on hold, until the economic
Authoritative reports from both The story is the same with Col- clouds lift.
Vigers and Colliers International point liers, who report a drop in residen- The rental market is also facing a
out that while the situation is not pos- tial sales transactions of 53.3 percent slump because of the shrinking labour
tive, a series of stimulus measures an-
nounced by Chief Executive Edmund
Ho Hau-wah in his policy address in
November last year will help to allevi-
ate the worst effects of the economic
turbulence.
Big picture
Vigers’ Macau Property Market
Updates report for March 2009 reflects
on comments by the city’s finance chief
that the economy will register substantial
negative growth in the first half of 2009
but adds that this might have been de-
signed to act as a shock absorber for the
bad news to come.
Overall economic growth for 2008
was 13 percent and Vigers predicts this
double-digit negativity will continue in
the first half of this year.
According to Colliers International
Macau’s real gross domestic product ex-
panded by 11.3 percent year-on-year in
the third quarter of 2008, a substantial
drop from 32 percent in the first quarter
of the same year on the back of a decline
in gaming revenue as a result of less con-
sumer spending.
Both reports note a rise in unemploy-
ment and a decrease in wages and sala-
ries, all of which has a direct and indirect
effect on the property market.
Residential crunch
Last year saw 12,000 residential unit
transactions, much less than in the year
before and Vigers sees this trend con-
april 2009
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