The value of property in Macau is high compared with what locals have been used to but is still in line with the region, said the asset and liability general manager of the Bank of China Macau branch yesterday.

“We can no longer just look at the local situation, we are now part of the international economy,” said Sou Chan Fai.

“When evaluating the price of property in Macau the whole Pearl River Delta regional should be compared.”

On Wednesday the first public auction of land in Macau for four years saw two plots of Inner Harbour land sold for a combined total of 1.4 billion patacas.

The larger 3,000 square metre plot sold for 868 million patacas, where the buyer intends to build an apartment block.

International interest in Macau’s property market has increased the number of speculators purchasing property with the hope the growing economy will keep pushing demand.

Some in the real estate industry are concerned the speculation has artificially driven up prices to levels that can not be sustained, a so called property bubble.

Mr Sou said he does not believe Macau is experiencing a property bubble as his bank is seeing real demand in the market.

“According to our analysis over the last three to five years we think the market is quite healthy and there is not a bubble,” he said.

In the first ten months of last year the banking industry gave out more than 61 billion patacas in domestic loans and advances to the private sector, an increase of 30 percent on the previous year, according to the Monetary Authority of Macao.

The prices are not excessively expensive when compared to other cities in the region such as Hong Kong and , said Mr Sou.

Lawmakers and social commentators are concerned the spiralling cost of premium property is putting property out of reach of the average local worker.

Because salaries in the city are also rising, Mr Sou believes property is still not out of the reach of residents.

In addition to more loans, the bank has also seen a fall in the number of customers defaulting on repayments.

The quantity of non-performing loans across the sector dropped 11 percent in the first 10 months of last year to 599 million patacas.

The bank is also working to help more residents purchase property by providing more flexible mortgages.

The average period of a housing loan is 15 years however the bank has also introduced 25 and 30 year repayment periods.

8 Patacas = 1 USD

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