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Peggy Sito

Engel & Volkers, a  property franchiser specialising in the luxury residential sector based in Germany, is to launch its first shop in Macau.
'The market is slow but we can still see demand for residential leasing from expats who are working in the city and looking for mid- and up-market homes,' said Nestor Ng, managing director at Engel &  Volkers Macau.
'Our initial and primary focus will be on the numerous residential and casino-resort projects that are due  for completion in the next 12 months,' Mr Ng said yesterday.
'The Macau market offers enormous opportunities in a rapidly growing market and we see our target buyers as investors from Hong Kong, China and Europe as well as expatriates living in Macau,' he said.
The first shop will be in launched in Taipa, Macau by the end of this year and Mr Ng said the second shop was expected to be opened in summer next year.
Despite the recent market slowdown, Mr Ng said: 'Eventually, we plan to open four  or five outlets in Macau.'
The objective for fiscal 2009, he said, would be to gain market share from leading  local and international property  brokerages that  already have an established presence  in the market.
Estate agents said that individual owners  had been prompted to lower their asking prices because of  uncertainties in the external environment, despite the present low interest rate  and the genuine occupational demand.
There was a significant retreat of the number of sale transactions, with  volume contracting  34.5 per cent year on year to 8,638 units during the first half of  this year, according to Colliers International.



Engel & Volkers enters Macau luxury sector