Johnson Iong, a 26-year-old teacher who earns around MOP23, 000 a month, is considered a member of the “sandwich class”. He is at the bottom of the middle class, which means he can neither afford a large property nor can he enjoy benefits of economic housing.

The Macao government announced that a new round of economic housing applications for one-bedroom apartments will start between March 27 and June 26. There are about 1544 apartments for sale at prices between MOP520,000 and MOP700,000.

Iong hopes that he can have his own apartment. However, his dream seems hard to come true under the skyrocketing prices of Macao real estate. “I think it is important to have my own place because I need a space to build up my own family,” he said. To make his dream come true, he has made his own effort applying for the economic housing, however, according to the housing policy, the monthly income limit for the one person family is MOP22,240, and the two people one is MOP44,479. Obviously, his salary was over the limit, so he is not qualified to apply for the economic housing.

Although there are some housing policies for the “sandwich class”, they still feel unprotected and depressed. “I think it is nonsense if the limit is fixed. I really urge the government to pay attention to the inflation rate and to set the limit accordingly,” said Iong. Nowadays, the price of commercial housing is very high and keeps increasing at a crazy speed. To help young people buy their own apartments, the government has created a new set of rules.

According to the Policy Address presented by the Chief Executive last year, the Macao residents will be exempted from the housing tax and stamp duty when they buy their first home (such buyers are classified as the “home starters”). Also, the Housing Department has reinforced the “4% bank interest subsidy” policy in order to help the “sandwich class” to purchase their own properties. According to the policy, if you are a Macao permanent resident who has not owned any property for three years, is not a beneficiary of the previous 4% bank interest subsidy policy and has not applied for economic housing, you can apply for the maximum of MOP400,000 guaranteed loan by the government and maximum 4% bank interest subsidy for the down payment if you buy an apartment worth MOP2.6 million or below.

Also, the Chief Executive emphasized that the government will focus more on the housing problem in Macao and try to relieve young buyers from the property burden by introducing the policies of “Home Purchase Guaranteed Loan Scheme” and “Home Purchase Loan Subsidy Scheme”, which are different from the “4% bank interest subsidy” policy mentioned above. Also, he stated that the government would monitor the inflation rate to adjust the income limit requirement for economic housing applicants.

“I think that the policy might help me to build up the confidence for buying my first house. However, the government should have its long term policy to lower the crazy price of housing, in order to let more and more “sandwich class” people afford an apartment,” said Iong