Housing transactions fell m-o-m in November, with a 62 pct drop in sales in Coloane on the tail of new luxury residential sales the previous month.

Kam Leong | 19/12/2016 

Average housing prices in the city amounted to MOP90,428 (US$11,304) per square metre for the month of November, up slightly by 1.1 per cent from one month ago, according to official data released by the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) last week.
For the month, the total number of home transactions in the city amounted to 1,144, which was a slight drop of 1.55 per cent compared to one month ago, due to the 62.3 per cent decrease in home transactions in Coloane, which amounted to only 87 compared to October’s 231 transactions.
But this significant drop in home transactions on the island was due to the high base in October, when the new luxury residence Sky Oasis commenced sales, with the developer claiming that its first batch of sales of 128 units were sold out in one weekend.
Despite the drop in home transactions, average home prices on the island only decreased marginally by 0.03 per cent month-on-month for November, which amounted to MOP125,237 per square metre.
Home prices on the Peninsula also remained stable from October, up marginally by 0.14 per cent month-on-month to MOP81,507 per square metre, while total transactions rose by 12.8 per cent month-on-month to 239.
Meanwhile, total transactions for residential units in Taipa jumped by 16.1 per cent year-on-year to 239. Home prices there also increased by 15.6 per cent to MOP100,572 per square metre, compared to MOP87,025 one month ago.

Rebounding from one year ago
On a year-on-year comparison, average home prices for November represented an increase of 20.9 per cent compared to MOP74,771 one year ago.
In particular, home prices in Taipa surged by 32 per cent year-on-year, up from MOP76,189 per square meter, while those on the Peninsula and Coloane also grew by 20 per cent and 14.9 per cent year-on-year, up from MOP67,898 and MOP108,999 per square metre for November 2015.
Compared to the same month last year, total home transactions surged by 122.1 per cent year-on-year, up from 515 transactions. Transactions of Taipa units tripled from the 79 recorded one year ago, while those in Macau also doubled from 381 one year ago; and home transactions in Coloane also recorded an increase of 58.2 per cent year-on-year.

Unit types
In terms of unit type, home transactions on completed units for November totalled 950, up by 11.6 per cent month-on-month, or 114.4 per cent year-on-year. This type of home cost MOP81,739 per square metre on average in the month, representing a slight increase of 2.7 per cent month-on-month, or 19.1 per cent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, total transactions of units that were still under construction dropped by 37.6 per cent year-on-year to 194 in the month. Compared to 55 transactions one year ago, the number represents a significant increase of 169.4 per cent.
The average cost of uncompleted units amounted to MOP126,687 per square meter on average, up by 4.3 per cent month-on-month, or 18.5 per cent year-on-year.