Millennials purchasing residential real estate in Malaysia have significantly increased compared with last year and are expected to continue rising until 2024, said Juwai IQI in a survey.
The Asian real estate technology company said its Millennial Homebuying Survey also indicated that the majority of real estate agents believed there are more millennial buyers in the market today than in 2022.
“Eighty (80) per cent of the agents believed that the number of millennial buyers is higher than in 2022, while only four per cent believed the number has decreased.
“Seventy-three (73) per cent of agents believed there are more Bumiputera millennial buyers in the market today than in 2022, compared with only seven per cent who believed there are fewer,” said Juwai IQI’s head of Bumiputera segment Muhazrol Muhamad in a statement.
He noted that millennials are those between 27 and 41 years old and are sometimes also known as Gen Y. They are the most important group of real estate buyers and also account for 50 per cent of the country’s working age population.
On market share, Muhazrol said agents believed that millennials make up between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of all buyers, depending on the submarket.
They are important because they are “relatively big spenders” and “account for a large share of sales in the middle and upper-middle market segments, with more than three-quarters spending more than RM500,000,” he said.
Bumiputera millennial buyers are skewed towards a slightly lower price range compared with other groups.
In terms of price range, 40 per cent of Bumiputera millennials opted for units priced between RM300,000 and RM500,000 versus 26 per cent among other non-Bumiputera millennial groups.
He also said that millennials prefer condominiums (33 per cent) followed closely by landed properties (30 per cent) and serviced apartments (26 per cent).
Few millennials purchase commercial properties (11 per cent) because they require a greater investment and a more sophisticated understanding of the markets.
The most popular programmes were the Skim Rumah Pertamaku programme, followed by PR1MA Homes, the BNM My First Home Scheme, and the Home Ownership Campaign.
The statement said that the most difficult obstacle to overcome is gathering enough money for a down payment, which explains why the Skim Rumah Pertamaku programme is the most popular among millennials, since it enables buyers to finance 110 per cent of the property’s value, he said.
Muhazrol added that millennials rank a central location and access to public transportation as their two most popular features, followed by security such as gates, locks, cameras, and security guards.
Other important features include a swimming pool, gardens and outdoor areas; gymnasiums were the least important.
Views of more than 20,000 real estate agents were sought in the March 2023 survey with a completion rate of two per cent. It was conducted online with a self-complete-style interview.
