KUALA LUMPUR, 18 February 2013 - A rosy economy will pave the way for sales and prices of residential properties in Malaysia to rise this year, according to Gerard Kho, newly-appointed Country Manager of PropertyGuru.
“There will probably be an increase in activity (transactions) from buyers this year, as many of them weren’t sure where the market was going last year (and held back their purchases) due to political issues,” he told SunBiz.
Moreover, several “big investor groups” are making en bloc acquisitions in key areas near the end of 2012, an indication that buyers remain bullish over Malaysia’s property market despite the upcoming general election.
“Investors of that level would not come in to buy unless they know there’s a lot of upside in the market. With these groups of investors coming in, it gives us the confidence that they know what would happen even where there is a change in government.”
Hence, regardless of who wins the election, the real estate sector is going to experience a faster momentum, fuelled by domestic demand, said Kho, adding that 2013 could be a catch-up year as property deals in 2012 fell compared to the previous year.
“In terms of pricing of properties, key areas such as the Klang Valley will continue to go up if there is not much pressure from sellers to dispose of properties. From that perspective, if pricing is not as good as it should be, they’d just hang on to their properties.”
On hot spots, any property less than 10km to 12km from the town centre is going to see good demand, noted Kho.
“Same goes with those along major highways. Any property in the Klang Valley such as Serdang, Klang and Sungai Buloh would do well, as well as Damansara Heights and Mont Kiara.”