By BRICKS AND MORTAR By TEH LIP KIM | Apr 21, 2012
Every reason to feel upbeat about the property market
REPORTS released in the last two to three weeks on the state of the property sector in Malaysia and other countries in this region should offer some comfort to both builders and investors.
The Malaysian Property Market Report 2011 that is issued by the Valuation and Property Services Department of the Finance Ministry has painted a fairly positive picture.
According to the report, the Malaysian property market saw its highest growth in the last five years. For instance, the number of transactions in 2011 was up 14% and the value of transactions in the same year rose 28% compared with the previous year.
Perhaps it is for this reason that sentiment remain upbeat not only among property investors in Malaysia but in other countries in this region as well, such as Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Also released just recently is the Asia Property Market Sentiment Report 2012 by iProperty.com, a network of property websites covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
According to this report, 59.5% of those surveyed think that the Malaysian property market is still doing well, and 62.3% of them have expressed a desire to acquire new property within the next six to 12 months. That, certainly, is a show of confidence in the property market in Malaysia, and sweet music to developers’ ears.
More numbers: of those surveyed, 28% have said that they were looking to buy for investment.But then again, some may ask, is it all that great? Are those numbers for real? Even if they are, are we drawing the right conclusions, the perennial pessimist will ask.
Given the scenario, we have reason to feel positive about the Malaysian property market.
Not reported here or anywhere, but widely acknowledge and perhaps even fairly extensively practised is the purchasing of properties for the future generations.
Parents monitor the prices of houses for the benefit of their children. Many who can afford it are already buying new homes for their children, out of fear that prices could rise to a level beyond their children’s means if they wait for the children to grow up, find a job and start looking for a home on their own.
This practice now begs the question: if the children of this generation can’t afford to buy their own homes, how then are their own children going to fare? But that is another issue.
Looking at it from an investor’s point of view, there is still a lot of upside in the property market, particularly in Malaysia.
The property market in Malaysia is still quite under-priced when compared with those in Indonesia, Hong Kong or our nearest neighbour Singapore.
There are many family ties between Malaysia and Singapore and our cousins across the Causeway have more than occasionally envied us our property prices.
The fact that Singaporeans make up a large proportion of foreign property purchasers in Malaysia, particularly in Johor, is a case in point.
Property developers are also increasingly eyeing markets outside Malaysia with many carrying out promotional efforts to attract buyers from China, Indonesia and of course Singapore.
Every reason to feel upbeat about the property market - StarProperty.my
