Macau News Agency. 14 May 2025. By Tony Lai.
Macau’s residential rental market surged to a three-year high in the first quarter of 2025, while shop and office rents diverged, falling to a two-year low and a record low respectively.
According to figures released Wednesday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), the average residential rent in Macau rose to MOP138.4 (US$17.3) per square metre in the first three months of 2025, a 4.5 percent increase year-on-year and a 0.4 percent gain quarter-on-quarter.
This marks the highest level since the first quarter of 2022, when rents averaged MOP139.7 per square metre. Despite the recent uptick, Macau’s residential rents remain 15 percent below pre-pandemic levels, which stood at at MOP163.5 per square metre in the final quarter of 2019.
While residential rents gained ground, the commercial property market told a different story. The average rent for shops in the city fell to MOP485 per square metre in the first quarter, down 1.3 percent year-on-year and 0.9 percent from the previous quarter.
“The average rent for shops showed a decrease compared to the previous quarter, owing to relatively low rents of new leases,” the DSEC said in a statement. Shop rents are now 11.4 percent below their pre-Covid levels of MOP547.8 per square metre.
In addition, shop rents fell to their lowest level since the first quarter of 2023, despite an influx of visitors amid the post-Covid recovery. Latest government data showed retail sales dropped 14.9 percent year-on-year to MOP71.99 billion in 2024, while per-capita non-gaming spending by tourists also declined 14.6 percent to MOP2,157.
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai said Tuesday that Macau faces several challenges, including shifting tourist spending patterns, with visitor numbers rising but overall expenditure falling.
Downward spiral for offices and industrial units
Meanwhile, the office market continued its downward spiral. Average office rents dropped to MOP289.5 per square metre in the first quarter of 2025, the lowest level since records began in 2019, representing a 3.2 percent decline year-on-year and a 1.3 percent drop quarter-on-quarter.
Rents for industrial units also edged lower, averaging MOP122.7 per square metre, down 0.9 percent from a year earlier and 0.2 percent from the previous quarter.
A breakdown of shop rents showed that average rates in Macau’s downtown, Areia Preta and Iao Hon, and Taipa declined quarter-on-quarter by 3.7 percent, 2.4 percent, and 1.3 percent, respectively, to MOP665, MOP452, and MOP738 per square metre in the first quarter of 2025.
In contrast, shop rents in Patane and NAPE edged up by 2.1 percent and 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter, reaching MOP393 and MOP623 per square metre, respectively.
On the residential side, average rents for flats in Coloane surged 7.2 percent year-on-year to MOP149 per square metre in the first quarter. Taipa and the Macau Peninsula also saw gains, with rents rising 3.8 percent and 4.1 percent year-on-year to MOP138 and MOP137 per square metre, respectively.
