The year 2024 could be a good one for Malaysia’s real estate markets according to the new IQI Property Survey and Index – Malaysia Q4 2023.
“This new research reveals strong market sentiment among the hundreds of real estate agents and negotiators who make up our research panel,” said Kashif Ansari of IQI.
“The buy–rent ratio reveals strong confidence in the real estate market, with 91.1% saying they would advise a friend to buy today, while only 8.9% advise renting. The numbers are nearly as lopsided in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor as they are country-wide, with 88.8% for buying versus 11.2% for renting. “Agents may recommend buying because they expect significant increases in both sales prices and rents in 2024. This optimism might be based on expected economic trends, investment inflows, infrastructure improvements, and demand and supply dynamics. “The forecast is for a 9.95% increase in residential prices and a 9.57% increase in rents during the next 12 months. Specifically in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, the industry expects prices to climb by 9.7% and rents by 9.9%.
“Responses are overwhelmingly positive across all locations. Only five per cent of our country- wide research panel expect prices to fall and only 3% expect rents to drop.
“The widespread expectation that prices and rents will climb signals the potential for capital appreciation and rental yield growth. That could encourage investors and renters to return to the market and lead to developers launching new projects.
“So, we expect to see more demand in 2024, driven by Malaysia’s demographic trends, urbanization, economic growth, and changes in housing affordability.
“Most of the increase in transaction volume will be for moderately and affordably priced property. Fifty-one per cent of purchases are valued between RM100,000 and RM500,000, according to data from the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC).
“When it comes to the economic outlook, the research reveals a mixed but generally positive outlook. Agents in our research panel are keeping a wary eye on broader economic factors and global disruptions that have the potential to undermine Malaysia trade growth.
“Over half (56%) of respondents expect a more robust economy over the next 12 months, while only one-third (33.5%) expect the economy to weaken. The most common view is that the economy will be “Somewhat stronger” (35%), followed by “Somewhat weaker” (25%).
The survey is based on survey research conducted from 1 to 22 November 2023 with a research panel of 203 real estate agents and negotiators in every state and territory except Perlis.
