The Ministry of Finance revealed that there were over 188,000 transactions recorded worth RM84.40 billion, showing an increase of more than 30% in volume and value compared to corresponding first half of 2021 (1H 2021), with all property sectors recording year-on-year growth.
The residential property sector recorded 116,178 transactions worth RM45.62 billion in the review period, an increase of 26.3% in volume and 32.2% in value year-on-year.
Malaysia Property Market First Half 2022, released today, stated that he bulk of transactions took place in four major states namely Pulau Pinang, WP Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Selangor which formed about 47% of the total national residential volume.
The Commercial property segment recorded 15,169 transactions worth RM14.02 billion, up by 45.4% in volume and 28.3% in value compared to the same period last year. Selangor contributed the highest volume and value to the national market share, with 26.5% in volume (4,025 transactions) and 33.5% in value (RM4.70 billion).
Residential New Launches Softened
More than 10,000 units of newly launched schemes were recorded, down by 66.7% against 31,687 units in H1 2021. Against H2 2021, the new launches were lower by 13.3% (H2 2021: 12,173 units). Sales performance for new launches recorded at 20.3%, slightly lower compared to H1 2021 (20.6%) and H2 2021 (28.1%).
Johor recorded the highest number of new launches in the country, capturing nearly 23.8% (2,509 units) of the national total with sales performance at 31.8%. Sabah recorded the second highest number (1,335 units, 12.7% share) with sales performance at 10.6%. Perak came third (1,317 units, 12.5% share) with sales performance at 19.4%.
Terraced houses dominated the new launches. Single storey (2,047 units) and 2-3 storey (5,150 units) together contributed 68.2% of the total units with sales performance at 22.0%, followed by condominium/apartment units at 19.0% share (2,009 units) with sales performance at 12.4%.
Overhang Situation Improved Amidst Market Recovery
A total of 34,092 overhang units worth RM21.73 billion was recorded, down by 7.5% and 4.6% in volume and value respectively against H2 2021. Most of the overhang was in Johor with 6,040 units worth RM4.73 billion. Likewise, the unsold under construction residential units saw a decrease of 11.1% to 62,404 units compared to H2 2021 (70,231 units).
On the same note, serviced apartment sub-sector recorded 22,674 overhang units with a value of RM19.32 billion, indicating a decrease of 6.7% and 5.6% in volume and value respectively against H2 2021. Johor recorded the highest overhang in the country with 68.0% (15,423 units), followed by WP Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, with 18.9% (4,279 units) and 9.9% (2,248 units) share respectively.
Construction activities was on mixed mode
Residential construction activity recorded an increase in completion and new planned supply, each up by 5.9% and 12.9% respectively whilst housing starts decreased 7.2% compared to similar period last year. WP Kuala Lumpur contributed the highest number of completions, accounting for 28.2% (8,939 units) of the national total, followed by Selangor (27.4%) and Johor (8.7%).
For serviced apartments, completions increased to 9,677 units whereas starts decreased by 67.2% to 6,982 units and new planned supply down 17.9% to 6,022 units against similar half last year.
House Prices Continued Its Low Pace Growth
Malaysian House Price Index (MHPI) continued to increase at a moderating trend. As at Q2 2022, the MHPI stood at 203.5 points, up by 0.5% on annual basis. However, the index points decreased by 1.2% against Q1 2022 (205.9 points).
Office And Retail Sectors Remained Challenging
The performance of shopping complex moderated in H1 2022, with the national occupancy rate saw a slight decline at 75.7% as compared to H2 2021 (76.3%). WP Kuala Lumpur and Selangor recorded 81.6% and 77.7% occupancy rate respectively, whereas Johor and Pulau Pinang managed to secure an average occupancy of 72.2% and 71.5% respectively.
Five new completions were recorded injecting nearly 95,000 s.m. of space into the market in H1 2022 (H1 2021: 29,469 s.m.). Among which included the extension of Sunway Carnival Mall, Seberang Perai (32,500 s.m), new completion of Datum Mall Jelatek, Selayang (29,449 s.m.) and Mydin Hyper Tunjong, Kota Bharu (22,195 s.m.). Starts saw four buildings with a total retail space of 81,772 s.m.
There were another 40 complexes (1.56 million s.m.) in the incoming supply and with another nine complexes (0.30 million s.m.) in the planned supply.
The performance of purpose-built offices decreased to 77.7% lower than H1 2021 (78.5%). The purpose-built offices consist of 1,565 private-owned buildings (18,155,972 s.m.) and 1,010 public-owned buildings (6,018,590 s.m). Three new completions were recorded, offering a total space of 114,716 s.m., including Menara Affin@TRX and The Stride@BBCC.
Property market continued to strive in the coming months
The property market performance recorded a rebound in the first half of 2022 (H1 2022), a reflective of normalising economic activity as the country moved towards endemicity. With the positive projection on economic growth by Bank Negara Malaysia, expected between 5.3% to 6.3% in 2022, supported by the implementation of various government initiatives and assistance, the property market performance is expected to bounce back on track.
