The government of Macau is revising mortgage restrictions to make it easier for citizens to improve their residences and get on the housing ladder. Various regulatory measures on the property market and external economic uncertainty have undermined and slowed investment confidence in Macau's property sector, according to JLL's recently published Macau Year-end Property Review 2018. rental cars
By the end of 2018, gaming revenue in Macau has climbed to MOP 302,85 billion, a 14% year-on-year increase. In actuality, the city's gaming revenue has climbed y-o-y on a monthly basis for 29 months running, reaching MOP 300 billion for the first time since 2014. The VIP market accounted for 55.4% of total gaming revenue, down 1.5% y-o-y, in the first three quarters of 2018. Meanwhile, the mass market saw y-o-y sales gain of 12.8 percent and 20.0 percent.
Macau's GDP increased by 5.6% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2018. According to Macau's expenditure-based GDP, gaming-related export services climbed by 11.0 per cent year over year, and now account for 85.3 per cent of the total GDP. Private consumption expenditure grew by 5.1% y-o-y, while government consumption expenditure grew by 4.0% y-o-y, while fixed capital formation fell by 11.2% y-o-y as a result of fewer construction projects.
To year in 2018, Macau has welcomed 32,233,000 tourists, an increase of 9.1% over the same period in 2017. Tourists from the People's Republic of China made up 70.8% of all visitors, with 48.7% traveling under the Individual Traveller Scheme to Macau (ITS). Macau's visitor arrivals grew by 13.3 percent in the last year thanks primarily to an increase in mainland visitors. According to the most recent data, Macau had 38,100 hotel rooms available as of November 2018 — with 24,500 of those rooms being five-stars. 91,3 percent of hotel rooms in Macau were occupied, with guests spending an average of 1.5 days.
For the most part, the job market in Macau remained stable in 2018. End-third-quarter unemployment was at 1.7%, while DSEC records show total median monthly income to be MOP 16,000 (about US$1,600). Imported employees in Macau reached a new record high of 188,854 in November, up 5.2% over the same period last year. Comparing the same period last year to the end of October 2018, the total resident deposit in Macau climbed by 5.5% to MOP 608.10 billion.
"Macau's overall economic statistics improved in 2018 as new gaming facilities were opened. The real estate market was busy in the year's first half. In 2H18, however, investor sentiment shifted to be cautious due to the escalating trade war between China and the US, the Brexit deadlock, and possible interest rate increases. Because of China's faltering economy, some research institutions expect that Macau's casino income would grow more slowly. Macau's real estate market would be under pressure in 2019 according to our predictions "Mark Wong, Senior Manager of JLL Macau's Valuation Advisory Services.
Macau's Residential Market: The Highs and Lows
This year, Macau saw a rise in the overall number of home sales transactions. In the first eleven months of 2018, there were 10,405 home sales transactions, up 6.3% year on year, according to DSEC data. This year's growth was primarily driven by an increase in the volume of transactions. The volume of transactions declined in the second half of 2018 as a result of global economic uncertainty.
Pre-sale consents for 28 projects comprising 2,747 residential units or about 322,055 sqm gross floor area were released in 2018 on the supply side. Throughout the year, a number of pre-production or finished designs were made available for purchase. Pre-sale sales accounted for 28.5% of all residential purchases as of early December 2018, according to DSF data. There were 2,956 presale transactions reported. Both the number and the ratio grew considerably when compared to the same period in 2017.
Compared to 2017, the price of luxury residential assets climbed by 3.5 percent, while the price of mass-to-medium residential assets increased by 7.8 percent, with yields of 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent correspondingly. The biggest progress was made in the first half of 2018, with the second half remaining rather stable.
Due to rising demand, residential rentals rose, while the number of foreign workers entering the country hit a record high in 2018. High-end and mass-to-medium residential property rental prices climbed year on year by 17.2% and 12.2%, respectively.
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Due to rising investment expenses as a result of the government's 2018 changes, which included a new stamp duty on buyers of multiple residential properties, the residential sector saw a substantial decline in speculative activity. Furthermore, the number of residential loans valued less than MOP 8 million grew as the government reduced mortgage lending ratios for young, first-time homebuyers. The sector, on the other hand, had already absorbed the demand from this group of first-time homeowners by the end of last year. Due to the current state of the external economic climate, customers and investors have taken a wait-and-see strategy. Although residential transaction volume is projected to stay low in the near future due to the government's announcement of 4,000 affordable housing units in 2019, transaction value is expected to decrease marginally. In spite of this, a large drop in home prices is unlikely given the sound economic fundamentals and the MOP 600 billion resident deposit "in JLL Macau's capital markets, according to Jeff Wong.