Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 5,501 building units and parking spaces were purchased and sold in the first quarter of 2018 as per Stamp Duty record, and the total value of transactions was MOP32.80 billion, up by 69.7% and 52.0% respectively quarter-to-quarter. Purchase and sale of residential units totalled 3,627, an increase of 1,009 units or 38.5% quarter-to-quarter. Analysed by month, transaction volume in January rose sharply by 85.0% while the growth in February slowed to 3.6%; transaction volume in March plunged by 57.6% after the launch of measures to manage residential property market.
Transaction volume of pre-sale residential units surged by 808 quarter-to-quarter to 1,611 units and the transaction value grew by 69.7% to MOP12.49 billion, attributable to the release of large-scale housing estates in the quarter. Moreover, purchase and sale of existing residential units increased by 201 to 2,016, amounting to MOP11.82 billion, up by 13.5%. As regards office units, number of units purchased and sold rose significantly by 86 to 122, and the total value leapt by 814.8% to MOP2.65 billion.
With respect to the average price per square metre of usable area, the overall average price of residential units increased by 6.3% quarter-to-quarter to MOP112,304, with the average prices of those in the Macao Peninsula (MOP99,312) and Coloane (MOP137,768) rising by 1.8% and 9.9% respectively; meanwhile, the average price of residential units in Taipa (MOP117,364) dropped by 3.7%. The average price of existing residential units (MOP93,450) and pre-sale residential units (MOP137,898) went up by 3.8% and 0.2% respectively.
The existing residential units purchased and sold were mainly in Baixa da Taipa, with 231 units (11.5% of total); 217 units were in NATAP and 185 in Areia Preta & Iao Hon. The average prices per square metre were MOP100,741, MOP106,466 and MOP83,127 respectively.
As regards pre-sale residential units, 844 transacted units (52.4% of total) were in Coloane, 337 in Fai Chi Kei and 214 in NATAP; the respective average prices per square metre were MOP138,467, MOP116,589 and MOP146,501.
The average price of office units grew by 75.3% quarter-to-quarter to MOP194,311 per square metre, attributable to the increase in transaction of relatively high-priced office units; meanwhile, the average price of industrial units decreased by 6.1% to MOP52,243 per square metre.
In the first quarter of 2018, there were 3,499 real estate purchase and sale contracts signed, and the number of properties involved (3,954) rose by 18.6% quarter-to-quarter. Meanwhile, 3,312 mortgage contracts were signed, and the number of properties involved (4,160) fell by 2.0%.
As regards construction in the private sector, there were 20,707 residential units in the design stage, 9,030 under construction and 1,375 under inspection as at the end of the first quarter. During the quarter, 338 residential units were issued the construction permit, with a total floor area of 40 thousand square metres; 247 residential units with a total floor area of 19 thousand square metres were issued the licence of use; 40.1% of them were one-bedroom units and 29.6% were two-bedroom units.