Data released by the Macau Monetary Authority on September 15 shows that new residential mortgage approvals in July 2026 fell month-on-month, while new commercial property loans recorded an increase. Meanwhile, total outstanding loans for both residential mortgages and commercial property loans declined on a monthly basis.

Regarding new loan approvals, Macau banks approved 860 million patacas in new residential mortgages in July 2026, a decrease of 40.9% compared to the previous month. The resident component, which accounted for 99.0% of all new residential mortgage approvals, fell 40.2% to 850 million patacas, while the non-resident portion dropped to just 8 million patacas. The monthly average of new residential mortgage approvals for the period from May to July 2026 was 1.15 billion patacas, down 7.7% from the preceding three-month period of April to June 2026.

New commercial property loans, however, surged 191.6% month-on-month to 3.03 billion patacas in July, with all of these loans attributable to resident borrowers. For the May-to-July 2026 window, the monthly average of new commercial property loans reached 1.54 billion patacas, representing an increase of 43.7% compared with the earlier April-to-June 2026 period.

Turning to outstanding balances, total residential mortgage loans stood at 201.12 billion patacas as of the end of July, down 0.4% month-on-month and 4.8% year-on-year. The resident portion accounted for 96.8% of this total. Resident and non-resident outstanding residential mortgage loans fell 0.4% and 1.4% month-on-month, respectively.

Outstanding commercial property loans amounted to 132.32 billion patacas, easing 0.1% from the prior month and down 9.0% on an annual basis. Resident loans constituted 90.9% of this outstanding total. While the resident component of outstanding commercial property loans slipped 0.6% month-on-month, the non-resident portion rose 4.5%.

Regarding loan delinquency, the residential mortgage delinquency ratio stayed steady at 3.6% as of end-July 2026, unchanged from June and 0.1 percentage points lower than a year earlier. For commercial property loans, the delinquency ratio reached 5.6%, rising 0.1 percentage points month-on-month and 0.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

Residential mortgage loans refer to credit facilities extended to individuals and companies secured by residential properties located in the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR), covering purposes such as property purchases and other uses including refinancing, additional mortgages, working capital, and trade financing. Commercial property loans, similarly, are credit facilities granted to individuals and corporations backed by commercial properties within the Macau SAR, including loans made to construction firms and financing used for property development and investment.