Property market abound with affordable options

KUALA LUMPUR – PropertyGuru’s Malaysia Property Market Index Q1 2021 (MPMI) the report has registered steady asking prices at 88.60 index points in Q3 and Q4 of 2020.

Although the index has remained unchanged, asking prices for properties in Malaysia have seen a drop quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) with Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang registering a drop of 1.80%, 0.83% and 0.78% respectively. Selangor is the only market with a slight increase of 0.84%.

With subdued asking prices coupled with favourable government incentives, this has resulted in more affordable options for purchasing property, states PropertyGuru.

The National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) also revealed that 50.5% of the new residential launches are properties priced below RM300,000, while those priced between RM300,001 to RM500,000 account for 24.7%. Landed properties dominated the new residential launches with 3,127 units launched in the quarter in review. This would be an addition to the existing overhang units in Johor at 20.4%, Selangor at 15.2% and KL at 10.1%.

With the added opportunity of low-interest rates, where Bank Negara Malaysia has decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate at 1.75%, the current market may see an early spike in transactional activity in 2021.

Recovering Regions and Bright Spots

Selected bright spots within key regions are bucking the downward trend by registering positive gains due to increased demand. In Kuala Lumpur, prices in the Ampang Hilir district are moving against the grain with a 10.96% gain, bringing the median asking price to RM975.82psf.

Neighbouring Selangor saw upward trends in Damansara Uptown at a 4.35% increase with a median price of RM958.85 psf, Sungai Buloh (Sierra Mas) with a 5.56% increase to RM633.33 psf and Petaling Jaya (Tropicana Indah) with a 14.28% increase at RM636.36 psf.

Up north in Penang, within Georgetown, prices rose in Jalan Scotland at 12.23% chalking a median of RM728.27 psf whilst Gurney Drive registered a 4.4% increase to RM785.71 psf.

Despite being the state with the biggest decline in asking prices, bright spots in Johor were recorded for Johor Bahru (Bandar Dato Onn) with a 3.31% increase at RM389.61 psf and Kulai (Senai) with a 7.93% increase at RM306.67 psf.