The local property market will begin to recover in the first half of this year, with increased buying interest in both the primary and secondary markets, according to Juwai IQI head of Bumiputera segment, Muhazrol Muhamad.
Muhazrol said increasing transactions would eventually lead to upward price pressure, particularly in the most popular market segments.
According to him, the first factor that will help drive the property market is a recovering economy.
Malaysia is projected to record an economic growth of 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent in 2022 compared with an estimate growth of 4.5 per cent in 2021.
"Economic growth in 2022 will be driven by continued policy support, the anticipated relaxation of Covid-19 containment measures, and an increase in demand in both the external and domestic sectors," Muhazrol said.
Furthermore, growth in the manufacturing and service sectors will increase employment, benefit household income and savings, according to him.
He anticipates that a rebound in construction and infrastructure projects will further increase employment.
"Employment is already improving and will be even better this year. In September 2021, 15.4 million people were employed, up from 15.2 million in January. Furthermore, unemployment has fallen from 5.3 per cent in May to 4.5 per cent in September," he said.
Regarding the ongoing pandemic, Muhazrol said that, while there is no rigorous data on the new omicron variant, Malaysians have learned a lot about pandemic management over the last two years.
He said that as evidence, consider Covid-related hospitalisations in Malaysia, which are only one-quarter of what they were earlier this year.
The government has effectively reduced the pandemic's impact through testing, vaccination, and communication campaigns.
"There is every reason to believe that the lessons learned in that battle will also aid us in mitigating the risks posed by the new variant. Therefore, our base case is that Malaysia will continue to reduce Covid's impact gradually and that omicron will have only a negligible impact on the real estate market," he said.