Malaysia has been legislated, so there is no reason for
a property bubble. Speculations and prices are pushed
up because the number of properties offered are low, as
compared to the current actual demand.
develop the housing market in the
country. I think there are going to
be a lot of changes. No one has
really digested the effects. I believe
that everyone is trying to do some
sort of simulation of how things are
going to work out. I see a lot of very
positive signs in the sector I am in
and I wish to focus on that rather
than the market in general. The
industrial property sector, to me, is
showing tremendous resurgence
and we are trying to work hard
to create products to boost the
demand for industrial properties.
The problem is, it has been a very
much ignored sector for many years.
We see this as a real opportunity for
developers to refocus on rolling out
more industrial products. However,
they should make them a part of
their overall mixed development
townships. I think the industrial
property sector is definitely positive
because the demand drivers are
there and a lot of opportunities
await the industrial sector moving
forward. I think the big challenge
in the residential sector is the
affordable housing sector, which is
huge.
With the rising prices, many houses
are beyond the reach of a lot of
serious buyers. I personally do
not see how people can afford to
purchase properties. Everyone now
looks at property as a property play
rather than a long-term investment.
And, this is what is driving up prices.
So the outlook will be focused
on developers who are already
switching to producing affordable
housing now because they see
that the high end market is
saturated and they will be able to
actually continue their growth by
switching over to the affordable
sector. I think that growth will not
be hampered but the products
being offered in the market will be
increasingly different than what it
was before. This means that luxury
residences will be tapered down
and be replaced by more affordable
housing projects.
Malaysia Property Incorporated
General Manager Veena Loh
I think the market outlook will be
soft in the first half of this year as
investors take stock of the new
Budget 2014 ruling and the tighter
BNM measures that have been
implemented in the second half
of last year which will make it less
conducive for buyers in 2014.
Other factors include the removal
of DIBS effective Oct 2013, further
tightening of the LTV ratio for
property purchases issued in Nov
2013, the shortening of personal
financing to a maximum of 10 years
and the capping of the maximum
tenure for residential and nonresidential property financing at 35
years that was announced in July
2013.
On top of this, the uncertainty of
when exactly the ruling limit on
the threshold of the minimum
purchase price of RM1 million for
residential properties will apply to
foreign buyers from the previous
RM500,000 limit.
Foreigners constitute less than 10%
of the buyers in Malaysia, but th