Starting from 1 January, the government will ease its cooling measures that were implemented to regulate prices in the housing market. The announcement was made at a press conference last Friday.
As part of the deregulation, people will no longer be required to pay 5 percent stamp duty on purchase of a second home. Moreover, a loan-to-value ratio for residential buildings of 70% across the board will replace the present tiered system and benefit the sale of larger units in particular, experts say.
During the press conference, Secretary for Administration and Justice, Cheong Weng Chon, stated that the government had been applying property cooling measures since 2010 in an effort to curb speculation.
[See more: Macao’s property values are generally falling]
Cheong said that in making the decision to deregulate, the government looked at the current state of Macao’s real estate sector and the changes in the economy.
President of the Macao General Association of Real Estate, Chong Sio Kin, told local media “This measure is the first step towards healthy development [of the market].”
At the press conference, the head of the Financial Services Bureau, Iong Kong Leong, stated that nearly 196,000 residents owned one property and roughly 33,600 owned two or more.
—With reporting by Kenny Fong
