Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 5,132 building units and parking spaces were purchased and sold as per Stamp Duty record in the fourth quarter of 2016, and the total value of transactions was MOP29.33 billion, up by 62.1% and 70.4% respectively quarter-to-quarter. Purchase and sale of residential units totalled 3,575 at MOP23.38 billion, up by 49.0% and 60.7% respectively. Driven by the release of large-scale housing estates, the transaction volume and value of pre-sale residential units surged by 187.6% and 157.7% respectively. The transaction volume of parking spaces also soared by 138.0% to 1,316 cases, with more than half of the parking spaces being pre-sale units.

The average price of residential units was MOP95,044 per square metre of usable area in the fourth quarter, up by 7.3% quarter-to-quarter. The average price of pre-sale residential units increased by 4.7% to MOP123,609 per square metre, with that in Coloane, the Macao Peninsula and Taipa rising by 23.1%, 6.5% and 1.1% respectively. Many of the pre-sale residential units purchased and sold were in Baixa da Taipa (378 units), Coloane (325 units), Cidade & Hipódromoda da Taipa (80 units), with an average price of MOP122,461, MOP127,235 and MOP127,461 respectively per square metre.

The average price of existing residential units increased slightly by 0.1% quarter-to-quarter to MOP81,360 per square metre, with that in the Macao Peninsula and Coloane rising by 6.4% and 21.2% respectively while that in Taipa dropping by 9.1%. Many of the existing residential units purchased and sold were in Baixa da Taipa (428 units), NATAP (272 units) and Areia Preta & Iao Hon (233 units), and the average price was MOP86,983, MOP96,674 and MOP74,355 respectively per square metre.

Analysed by year of completion, most of the transactions were residential units built between 21 and 30 years ago, totalling 1,188 units (147 in Baixa da Taipa, 141 in Areia Preta & Iao Hon), and the average price increased by 3.4% quarter-to-quarter to MOP72,543 per square metre. For the 504 residential units completed between 11 and 20 years ago (151 in Baixa da Taipa, 78 in NATAP), the average price went up by 4.1% to MOP79,910 per square metre. The average price of the 423 units completed over 30 years ago (81 in Barca, 59 in Areia Preta & Iao Hon) was MOP53,691 per square metre, up by 7.3% quarter-to-quarter. The average price of the 239 units completed within 5 years or less (46 in NATAP, 36 in Baixa da Taipa) was MOP117,062 per square metre, down by 9.1% quarter-to-quarter.

Analysed by usable floor area, there were 1,644 residential units with a floor area of 50.0 to 99.9 square metres, and the average price rose by 11.2% quarter-to-quarter to MOP90,256 per square metre. Among the 1,251 small-sized residential units with a floor area of less than 50 square metres, the average price grew by 22.3% to MOP88,288 per square metre.

The average price of office units was MOP108,397 per square metre, up by 15.9% quarter-to-quarter, while that of industrial units fell slightly by 0.4% to MOP51,483 per square metre.

The volume and value of real estate transactions in 2016 increased year-on-year; a total of 14,108 building units and parking spaces were purchased and sold, amounting to MOP74.13 billion, up by 44.4% and 43.5% respectively. Purchase and sale of residential units totalled 10,170 at MOP58.76 billion, up by 70.2% and 75.7% year-on-year. The total values of pre-sale residential units (1,710) and existing residential units (8,460) were MOP16.26 billion and MOP42.5 billion respectively.

The average price per square metre of usable area of residential units (MOP86,342) in 2016 decreased slightly by 0.6% year-on-year. The average price of those in Taipa (MOP98,696) and Coloane (MOP110,761) rose by 0.7% and 6.5% respectively while those in the Macao Peninsula (MOP77,276) dropped by 4.5%. The average price of existing residential units (MOP78,145) rose by 0.9% year-on-year while that of pre-sale residential units (MOP118,304) fell by 1.0%. The average price per square metre of office units (MOP100,057) and industrial units (MOP47,568) decreased by 11.8% and 5.9% respectively year-on-year.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, there were 4,249 real estate purchase and sale contracts signed, involving 4,254 properties, up by 14.7% quarter-to-quarter; meanwhile, 3,821 mortgage contracts were signed, involving 5,818 properties, up by 28.7%. For the whole year of 2016, a total of 14,215 real estate purchase and sale contracts were signed, and the number of properties involved (14,292) went up by 36.0% year-on-year; moreover, 13,282 mortgage contracts were signed, and the number of properties involved (18,529) rose by 11.8%.

As regards construction in the private sector, gross floor area of construction of new buildings totalled 221 thousand square metres in the fourth quarter, providing 1,344 units (1,303 are residential units) and 1,114 parking spaces for cars upon completion. Gross floor area of buildings completed totalled 83 thousand square metres, altogether providing 111 units (100 are residential units) and 289 parking spaces for cars.

For the whole year of 2016, gross floor area of construction of new buildings totalled 868 thousand square metres, providing 5,122 units (4,957 are residential units) and 3,882 parking spaces for cars upon completion. Gross floor area of buildings completed was 192 thousand square metres, altogether providing 498 units (404 are residential units) and 551 parking spaces for cars.