KUALA LUMPUR, 12th June 2012 - Malaysia's leading property portal and renowned property expert, PropertyGuru.com.my ("PropertyGuru", formerly known as HomeGuru) has released the much-awaited key findings on its Q1 Malaysia Property Sentiment Survey 2012.
A total of 2,134 respondents answered questions in PropertyGuru's quarterly online survey, resulting in responses that shed light on important issues such as which areas in Malaysia the respondents feel will be the next residential hotspot (after Greater Kuala Lumpur), impacts of government interventions, current trends on property prices from a buyer's perspective as well as purchase intentions among Malaysian property buyers.
Based on the answers received in PropertyGuru's Q1 2012 survey, John Paul Sta Maria, Country Manager of PropertyGuru Malaysia shared valuable insights on an emerging trends in the Malaysian property market.
Sta Maria said: "According to our Q1 2012 survey, respondents have named Johor Bahru and George Town as prime real estate picks for future property hotspots, respectively attributable to the booming developments in view of the Iskandar Malaysia region and the increase of high-end property around the capital of Penang."
Stating that the key concern for Malaysian property buyers remains connected with property prices, Sta Maria added: "More than 70% of survey respondents believe prices will increase while 65% think property is expensive.
"A multitude of housing policies are promoting affordable opportunities for first-time homeowners. These policies are expected to boost property demand, which will in turn, increase property prices."
Among the most critical pieces of information revealed by the PropertyGuru survey is the property affordability sentiment index, which reflects the consumers' perspective on the affordability factor. This index works on a scale of 1 to 5 with 2.5 indicating a neutral level. Any number below 2.5 is considered a negative index while anything above represents a positive index.
Sta Maria explained that the property affordability consumer sentiment index for Q1 2012 provided an important revelation in line with the expected property price hike. "For Q1 2012, the index is 2.5 compared to 2.7 in our Q4 2011 survey," he said. "Although a 2.5 index represents a neutral point on the scale, it also reveals that consumers feel property cost is moving closer towards the unaffordable point on the price scale. This is a drop in consumer sentiment compared to the positive index of 2.7 in the last quarter when buyers took a more optimistic approach to affordability."
The 2.5 index also corresponds perfectly with the survey's direct respondent results which showed that 80% of the survey participants were facing affordability problems due to their relocation to urban areas and the higher housing costs that come with such a move.
Another essential point to consider is the increase in general discontent among homeowners regarding government measures that have been put in place to curb rising property prices. 60% of all respondents, compared to 55% in Q4 2011, expressed a strong need for better government policies to ensure reasonable and affordable property prices in the country.
Many more fascinating key findings and property buying trends were unveiled during PropertyGuru's Q1 Malaysia Property Sentiment Survey 2012 including the following highlights:
• 65% of respondents feel all property types in Malaysia are expensive, compared to 60% in Q4 2011.
• 46% of respondents from Southern Malaysia perceive property across all sectors as affordable compared to 33% from Northern Malaysia and just 25% from the Klang Valley.
• 72% feel property prices will increase in the next 6 months, compared to 62% in Q4 2011.
• Apartments, condominiums and terrace houses are the most popular property types. More than half the respondents feel transactions and therefore prices for these three categories will increase up to 10%.
• 40% of potential first time buyers have opted to rent rather than buy due to unaffordable property prices. 20% state unreliable financing options as their reason for renting.
• 33% of respondents in Q1 2012, compared to 35% of respondents in Q4 2011 are willing to upgrade their existing properties in the next 12 months. 70% of those interested in an upgrade fall under the high income group (above RM 5,000 per month).
• 13% of respondents in the high income group are interested in overseas investment, compared to 18% in Q4 2011. Stricter measures for foreigners in the APAC region could be the likely reason behind this.
• Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, India, and China (Mainland China/Hong Kong/Macau) top the list of overseas destinations in which respondents currently own property.
The PropertyGuru Q1 Malaysia Property Sentiment Survey 2012 was conducted between 28th March and 16th April 2012, comprising an excellent cross representation of the country's population including participants from all regions of East and West Malaysia.
The survey effectively and accurately collated responses from respondents living in 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).
The expert in-house research team at PropertyGuru as well as specialist independent research consultants conducted the survey.
Formerly known as HomeGuru, the Property Guru Group rebranded its property portal in Malaysia to PropertyGuru on 15th May 2012. The rebranding exercise to PropertyGuru from HomeGuru and FullHouse for its northern Malaysian portal, was conducted to channel maximum value to online buyers looking for properties in Malaysia and Singapore. The new online regional presence now gives foreign buyers a single, powerful platform to effectively access property information in both countries.
The full results of PropertyGuru's Q1 Malaysia Property Sentiment Survey 2012 are expected to be released on today (12th June 2012) and can be found at: www.propertyguru.com.my/market-research.
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Media Contacts:
Mr Jason Thoe, Head of Marketing
Contact number: +603 2279 7555 ext. 320
Email: jasonthoe@propertyguru.com.my
Ms Widya Sharkawi, Editor
Contact number: +603 2279 7555 ext. 320
Email: widyawati@propertyguru.com.my
About PropertyGuru Malaysia:
www.PropertyGuru.com.my is the fastest growing Malaysian property portal set up as part of a joint venture between PropertyGuru Group and Malaysia's RedBerry. PropertyGuru has over 800,000 visitors viewing more than 4 million pages monthly. With over 110,000 listings and 3,500 agents signed up, PropertyGuru 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), PropertyGuru 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.