Property Hunter Magazine Property Hunter Magazine Issue 52 - March 2014 | Page 53

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