KUALA LUMPUR, 2 March 2012: Malaysia's property expert, HomeGuru.com.my, which is part of the PropertyGuru Group,
has released the much-anticipated results of its Q4 Malaysia Property Sentiment Survey 2011. The survey, which was conducted online by a specialist research team, presents a precise snapshot of the outlook of property buyers by gathering, analysing and tabulating their viewpoints on key issues such as prices, government policies and purchase intentions.
Opinions collected through the online survey represent an effective cross-representation of the Malaysian population as HomeGuru tapped into its immense resource of website users to gather data. Answers emerged from 2,583 users from all across the country with responses coming in from the Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya), Northern Malaysia (Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Perak, Perlis, Pahang, Terengganu), Southern Malaysia (Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan) and East Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan).
Steve Melhuish, CEO of PropertyGuru Group revealed a fascinating trend that is currently prevalent among property consumers. "People are adopting a wait and see attitude but it reflects an interesting approach toward purchasing property," he said. "The mantra seems to be: don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait. People are likely to be waiting before entering the market because they anticipate more housing to be available due to the housing policies that are expected to take effect." The survey results made this conclusion clear: more than half the respondents - 63% to be exact - believe that ‘wait and see' is the best path to take.
Steve Melhuish also revealed that overall, the property consumer sentiment in Malaysia is positive. "It is immediately apparent, based on the consumer property sentiment index derived from the survey, that people are more optimistic towards being able to afford property in Malaysia."
The consumer sentiment index works on a scale of 1 to 5 where 2.5 is a neutral number with anything below 2.5 signaling a negative index and anything above representing a positive index. The results of the survey reveal that the consumer sentiment index for Q4 2011 stands at a healthy 2.7, dropping slightly from 2.9 in Q3 but showing a significant improvement from 2.1 and 2.4 in Q2 and Q1, respectively.
The 2.7 index is based on actual numbers from the responses and it should be noted that Q4 results show the lowest percentage of people, who think Malaysian property is expensive, compared to previous surveys. This time only 60% of respondents feel all property types in Malaysia are pricey compared to 63% in Q3, a huge majority of 73% in Q2 and 66% in Q1.
HomeGuru's Q4 survey also highlights the general opinion of the efficacy of government measures with relation to the property landscape in Malaysia and it looking positive. This time 55% of respondents want the government to do more to keep property prices down, which is a notable drop compared to other quarters when 60% to 70% believed the government was not doing enough to regulate prices.
When it comes to the impact of the upcoming 13th General Election and it's effects on the property market, survey responses are split almost right down the middle. Results show that 45% of the respondents think that the election will influence a lacklustre performance in the property sector while 40% are not sure that it will.
There are a number of other key findings that were unveiled through the HomeGuru Q4 Property Sentiment Survey 2011 including the following highlights:
• An average of 42% say apartment/condominium, semi-detached, terrace/ link House are affordable, compared to the 37% in Q3, 28% in Q2 and 35% in Q1.
• 38% perceive commercial property reasonable, compared to the 34% in Q3, 22% in Q2.
• 61% feel property prices will increase in the next 6 months, compared to the 55% in Q3, 86% in Q2 and 71% in Q1.
• 40% of respondents are renting their current property of residence due to unaffordable property prices, 9% are waiting for more housing policies before purchasing property whereas 6% hold unreliable financing options as the main reason.
• 35% respondents are willing to upgrade their existing property in the coming 12 months whereas 48% would probably buy another property in the country, compared to the 18% in Q3 and Q2 and 23% in Q1.
• Only 18% respondents are interested in investing overseas, compared to the 24% in Q3. Singapore (38%), Australia (26%), India (9%), Mainland China (5%) and Indonesia (5%) are top destinations of choice.
• 54% respondents do not agree nor are sure whether Malaysian financial institutions have effective home financing options.
• 62% respondents agree that Bank Negara Malaysia's measures on investigating an individual's financial ability before providing home financing options to them are necessary.
• Almost 80% respondents who are Singapore citizens residing in Singapore said Malaysia property is affordable, whereas almost 85% said residential rentals in Malaysia are affordable.
HomeGuru's quarterly Property Sentiment Surveys aim to shed light on the various issues surrounding the property sector as well as offer valuable information on the major factors that influence the behaviour of Malaysian property buyers. It is also designed as a guide to help property agents, developers and the buyers themselves to make solid, informed decisions about property in Malaysia.
The full results of HomeGuru's Q4 Malaysia Property Sentiment Survey 2011 is expected to be released on 8 March 2012.
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Media Contact:
Mr Jason Thoe, Head of Marketing
Contact number: +603 2279 7555 ext. 320
Email: jasonthoe@homeguru.com.my
Ms Widya Sharkawi, Editor
Contact number: +603 2279 7555 ext. 320
Email: widyawati@homeguru.com.my
About HomeGuru:
www.HomeGuru.com.my is the fastest growing Malaysian property portal set up as part of a joint venture between PropertyGuru Group and Malaysia's RedBerry. Currently the 80th ranked website in Malaysia based on Alexa, from its initial ranking of #499 in January 2011, HomeGuru has over 345,000 users viewing more than 1.7 million pages monthly. With over 70,000 listings and 3,000 agents signed up, HomeGuru gives consumers the platform to find properties for purchase, sale, rental or investment and a direct channel to search for and contact agents. An SME Tiger Award Winner for Online Business (Gold Award), HomeGuru is designed with the end-user in mind; featuring real-time access to multimedia-rich content, covering property-related products, services, news, advice, guides, tools and a rapidly growing online property database in Malaysia.
About PropertyGuru Group:
PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 as a self-funded company, with a vision to make the property search process a breeze for buyers, sellers and investors. Taking advantage of Asia's growing affluence for property and the online boom, it received its first VC investment funding in 2008. Since then, the company has grown rapidly, reaping profits and positive cash flow in 2009, tripling revenue in 2010.
PropertyGuru is now Asia's leading online property portal, with a presence in 10 countries, including offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and partnerships with leading property websites in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, China and Macau. It has almost 6 million buyers viewing approximately 55 million property pages monthly, with a growing database of 350,000 opted-in buyers and over 19,000 real estate agents.
PropertyGuru provides an integrated media platform that real estate developers and agencies can use to promote their brands and generate sales leads. The entire PropertyGuru community boasts 400,000 residential and commercial properties and clients include almost 500 prominent developers from Asia, Europe and the Americas, as well as over 19,000 real estate agents in Asia.
PropertyGuru has also won multiple awards, including the Overseas Property Professional "Best Online Media (Gold) Award 2011" and "Best Online Service (Silver) Award 2011", Red Herring "Top 100 Asia Technology Award 2011", Hitwise "No.1 Website in the Property Industry" award, the Singapore IT Federation (SITF) award for "Best Mobile Application (Merit) 2011" and "E-Enterprise Company 2010", the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA) award for "Best Performing VC Backed Company 2010", Marketing Magazine's "Top Digital Media of the Year 2010" award, CNBC World's "Best Property Portal Award 2009" and the "Google Zeitgeist Singapore 9th Fastest Rising Search Term 2009".