GLOBAL property consultancy firm Savills (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd expects domestic property prices to increase in the second half of next year.
Its chief executive officer Datuk Christopher Boyd said this positive development is on the back of the growth in Malaysia’s socio-economic standing.
“There is still an issue of oversupply, especially within the domestic property market. The uncertainties brought on by trade tensions between the United States and China also play a role for investors’ shying away from Malaysia now,” he said.
”On top of that, for the first half of the year, most people adopted a wait-and-see approach due to the 14th General Election. Now is the perfect time to buy because property prices have turned quite competitive.”
Boyd said when all these factors subside, real estate prices will increase again.
“We are expecting that prices will rise again in the second half of 2019 after all the uncertainties have died down,” he said.
“The reintroduction of the Sales and Services Tax in September will also play a part in the price increase as raw materials will again be taxed and, therefore, will become more expensive.”
Boyd said based on Savills data, there was an increase in housing loans for the first two months of this year, at RM33 billion compared with RM32 billion during the same period in the year before.
“Approved housing loan applications for January and February were at RM14 billion, from RM13 billion for the first two months of 2017,” he added.
Malaysia saw its total housing loan applications increase by 15.6 per cent to RM239.6 billion last year.
Of the total, 42.2 per cent, or RM101.5 billion, was approved.