By the Macao News staff reporter. 29 January 2024.
The hike in rents in Macau last year was driven by locals preferring to rent rather than buy in the present economy, along with demand from both non-resident workers and mainland Chinese students.
Macao’s renters paid, on average, 10 percent more for their homes last year than they did in 2022,Ponto Final reports.
The Association of Macau Real Estate Agents told the paper that the post-pandemic return of non-resident workers and students from the Chinese mainland drove the rent hike, adding that locals’ reluctance to buy property was also a factor.
The association’s president Chris Wong said that many residents had “moved from buying to renting” due to the high interest rates on mortgages. He noted that Macao’s property market experienced a recession in 2023.
According to Wong, rents in Taipa saw the biggest rise – double the average – due to the area’s popularity with both non-resident workers and mainland Chinese students.
Official fourth-quarter figures cited by Ponto Final show that Macao’s average rent per square metre of usable area in a housing unit was about 130 patacas.
Wong predicted that rents would stabilize in 2024, while the property market would remain sluggish in spite of government initiatives intended to stimulate sales.
