Property website, PropertyGuru has highlighted an increase in the sentiment index from 39 points (H2 2020) to 42 points (H1 2021), attributing it to current real estate satisfaction, positive outlook on property climate, convenient interest rate, positive government efforts, and favourable price outlook.
Despite being realistic, Malaysians are cautious about property purchase with 42 percent adopting a wait-and see approach in anticipation for better value in the future.
“People are expecting the housing prices to go down further because developers have to adjust their pricing strategy to launch affordable homes. According to Kenanga Research, over 50 percent of the new launches in Q3 2020 were priced below RM300,000,” Country Manager of PropertyGuru Malaysia, Sheldon Fernandez said.
Additionally, property owners who are desperate to let go of properties have no choice but to reduce the asking price. So, the price trends of the properties in the secondary market will be linear.
In the survey conducted, 35 percent of young adults have expressed interest in owning a property thanks to the market being in a favourable environment. The interest is further spurred by low-interest rates, incentives from the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) and good prices by the developers.
In terms of homeownership challenges, 52 percent of the respondents said the difficulties in committing to the down payment for the property purchase remains the main barrier from applying for a home loan.
Job instability (46 percent), unfamiliarity with paperwork (33 percent), poor credit history (27 percent) and lack of supporting documents (25 percent) are also the barriers in taking a home loan.
PropertyGuru Malaysia has also forecasted Malaysia’s economy to be on the mend due to the mass vaccination roll-out and positively impact the property sector in H2 2021.
“This is reflected by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 1.75 percent, as BNM sees continued recovery in the global economy. However, downside risks remain amid uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The property market will also likely be seeing increased sales in the first half of 2021 as the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) ends on May 31,” Sheldon concluded.
