/// Feature Property Event
East Coast of Sabah Property Sales Dropped
in Excess of 50% in Q2 2014
P
roperty developers are
starting to feel the crunch
brought on by various cooling
measures that were announced in
the 2014 budget.
It was a knee-jerk effect that brought
Sabah’s property market’s uptrend
to a standstill with developers
and buyers adopting a wait and
see attitude as to how far the
implications will affect the market.
As anticipated, the first half of
2014 was a testing time with many
property developers holding back
on their sales targets.
Sales figures from the recent
SHAREDA PH Expo 2014 in
Sandakan (11 – 13 April) and
Tawau (16 – 18 May) reflected this
downturn with a significant drop in
figures compared to last year.
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According to director of Property
Hunter, Michael Hiew, despite a 30%
increase in developer participation,
SHAREDA PH Expo Sandakan posted
a significant drop of 56% in property
sales from RM43.5 million in 2013
to RM18.9 in 2014. Visitor numbers
mirrored the weakened sales figures
with a drop of 53.1% from last year.
Hiew commented, “Although
the company had increased its
advertising and promotion budget
by 20% for both exhibitions over
last year’s spending in anticipation
of a higher turnout, numbers has
declined.”
SHAREDA PH Expo Tawau fared
slightly better with a drop of
44% in sales figure from RM79
million in 2013 to RM43.8 million
this year. Property developers
continued to show strong support
with a 19% increase in number of
exhibitors from 25 in 2013 to 31
exhibitors. Visitor numbers however
experienced a slight 20% drop.
Hiew also revealed from the random
market sentiment survey conducted
by Property Hunter during the
exhibition, “The major factors in the
turnout rate and transaction figures
decline was due to homebuyers
and investors inability to obtain loan
approval with reasonable margins,
harsh Bank Negara lending policies
and the rapid rise of property prices
in which many could not keep up.”
The in