To entice more foreign investors into Malaysia’s real estate market, the government should enhance the provision of information, as well as improve market professionalism and the transparency of legislating rules, urged the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI).
This would give foreign investors a greater understanding of the local market, FIABCI USA Secretary-General Bill Endsley said in a report by Bernama.
“Malaysia’s transparency of government policymaking is ranked 22nd among 138 economies,” he said, citing the Global Competitiveness Report for 2016-2017. On the other hand, Singapore secured the top spot, while Hong Kong is at fourth.
“That is why international institutional investors prefer to invest in cities beyond Malaysia,” he said during the International Property Market Perspectives and Practices workshop in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (19 September).
Regarding market professionalism, Endsley advised local fund managers to improve communications by learning to speak the language of foreign investors, such as the terms for yield and internal rate of return.
On better provision of information, data like property sales price and psf values should be made available in a convenient manner to investors. “From the analysed data, one would be able to get a buyer without asking around, because you already have the needed information,” he noted.
Despite the need for improvements, Endsley pointed out that the country’s property sector remains competitive versus other markets in the region.
“Malaysia was ranked 31th for its property rights index in the Global Competitiveness Report, higher than Indonesia (60th), the Philippines (81th) and Thailand (93th).”
Overall, it clinched the 25th spot in the rankings compared to Thailand (34th), Indonesia (41th) and the Philippines (57th).
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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