Macau News Agency. 22 August 2025. By Nelson Moura.
Macau’s real estate rental market is showing mixed signals, with commercial rents under pressure while residential rents hold relatively firm, an industry insider told Macau News Agency.
“Locals are renting, not buying. There’s a wait-and-see approach to market prices, which is why residential rents are relatively firm despite the downturn elsewhere,” according to Suzanne Watkinson, Managing Director at Ambiente Properties Ltd. told MNA.
Macau’s residential property price index recorded a 10.4 per cent year-on-year drop in the second quarter of 2025, official data show.
The same period saw a 4.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline in the average price of residential units in Macau, despite an increase in transaction volume, with the average price per square metre for residential units falling to MOP68,856 ($8,556).
Watkinson said reversing the trend would require changes in bank lending policies. “Better mortgage schemes are needed, especially for older properties. Buyers of 60-plus-year-old homes currently have to pay fully in cash, which is off-putting to both investors and end users,” she said.
She added that banks should adopt “more thorough, more imaginative” valuation methods. “Valuations need to consider location and building condition, not just the last transaction price,” she said.
For investors, Watkinson pointed to yields as a decisive factor. “When the drop in capital values crosses rental yield, and if at least a return of 3.5 percent or more can be achieved, then property investment becomes worthwhile,” she said.
But she warned that weak local income growth, job losses and fragile consumer sentiment were curbing buying appetite.
Geographic disparities are also shaping the market. Areas such as ZAPE and Coloane have seen rents climb, while others, including the New Areia Preta Landfills, recorded declines.
“Location and convenient access to work are important. Free shuttle bus services, like those at One Oasis in Coloane, make a big difference,” Watkinson said. By contrast, she noted, “plenty of supply in New Areia Preta is pushing rents down, and some locals are opting to rent in Zhuhai at a fraction of the price.”
An oversupply of government-subsidized housing, priced around MOP2.3 million ($285,000) for a two-bedroom unit, is also denting demand in the private market, she said.
Watkinson warned that buyer sentiment remained fragile, particularly as developers discount new projects to generate cash flow.
“As prices for first-hand properties reduce, this will carry down to the secondary market, which will show further declines,” she said.
Beyond housing, she described the retail property sector as “dire” amid a steady outflow of consumer spending across the border in Zhuhai, where goods and services are cheaper.
“Pandora’s Box is open. Groceries, petrol, eating out – all at half the price in Zhuhai – and that inevitably pulls spending away from Macau,” she said, pointing to shuttered shops and a weakened investment climate.
She added that stabilisation in the sector would hinge on both tourism recovery and stronger domestic demand.
“Government handouts should be restricted to spending only in Macau,” she suggested, while also calling for incentives to attract overseas buyers. “Residency could be offered to foreign buyers above a certain property value – six, eight or ten million patacas,” she said.
Watkinson recalled that in 2009–10, a government interest subsidy programme for mortgages under HK$2.6 million (US$330,000) helped stimulate the market. “Prices for properties below that threshold quickly rose to meet it. Similar measures could give today’s market some breathing room,” she said.
