Kuala Lumpur, 16 MAY 2013 – With the dust having settled on the thirteenth General Elections 2013, all eyes now turn towards the freshly elected government for strategies for the Malaysia real estate sector.
While other issues such as increasing the minimum purchase price for foreign buyers and the reduction on lending rates and stamp duties are also on the wish list of most Malaysians, latest figures released by PropertyGuru Group, Asia’s Leading Online Property Group, highlighted a continuing call for the government to address the affordability of homes in Malaysia.
In its latest Property Sentiment Survey, 76% feel that the government is not doing enough to curb the current price increase. This is more acutely felt in regions that have experienced a high foreign demand for residential properties, namely in Johor (69%) and Kuala Lumpur (81%).
While 35% out of the total of 851 respondents claim that the outlook of the Malaysia property market will remain positive, 4 in 5 expect prices to increase further in the next 6 months.
Respondents also seemed to favour stricter market restrictions on property ownership by foreigners, with nearly half supporting an increase in the minimum purchase price from RM500,000 to RM1 million for overseas buyers and investors wanting to buy properties in Penang and Johor.
Despite the growth in price, 74% of respondents intend to buy at least one property type (either residential or commercial) within the next 6 months, an increase of 10% as compared to the last quarter. This is because of the perception that the more expensive a property becomes, the higher capital appreciation it will bring in the long term.
“There is a dilemma at play for Malaysians. As they see property prices spiral up, they also see their assets appreciating in value. But in the long term, they are also finding it more challenging to own properties.
“Affordability is also a bigger concern for the younger adult population. There is no doubt that there are enough local funds to fuel the market and allow the government to control prices a bit better without relying on foreign investments.
The challenge is finding the sweet spot that will entice locals to invest locally while not turning away all foreign investments”, says Raymond Ng, Managing Director of Added Value Singapore.
The Property Sentiment Survey was conducted by PropertyGuru Group in collaboration with Added Value-Saffron Hill, a Singapore based independent professional research agency.
Conducted since 2010, it is the only independent local survey to measure property sentiments and expectations about the property market amongst Malaysians and is also carried out across the Group’s four key target markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand attracting 4,062 online respondents aged 21-69 who are influencers or decision makers on property.
“The results are consistent with figures from previous quarters where 75% of Malaysians find property to be expensive."
“The message is clear: Malaysians want more affordable homes and is looking to the government to deliver. PR1MA is a step in the right direction, but Malaysians want more measures and existing measures to be expedited,” mentioned Gerard Kho, Country Manager, Malaysia of PropertyGuru.com.
About PropertyGuru Malaysia
Propertyguru.com.my is the fastest growing property portal in the country with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor. The Malaysian portal currently has over 1.5 million visitors viewing almost 12 million property pages monthly.
PropertyGuru Malaysia reported a 2.5 times growth in revenue in 2012, attributed to a large growth in agent members, real estate developers and bank clients as well as a rise of 132% in website visitors to reach more than 11 million in comparison to the same period at the end of the previous year.
2012 also saw PropertyGuru taking the lead in the mobile space in Malaysia with the triple launches of PropertyGuru Malaysia’s consumer mobile app on Android and iPhone platforms as well as the Agent app on Android. The mobile apps have proved to be highly popular since launching in Q3 2012, with both consumers app receiving more than 77,700 downloads within three short months alone, with over 20% of all PropertyGuru users are now using mobile phone or tablet to visit the website in Malaysia.
About PropertyGuru Group
PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s leading online property portal group used by almost 11 million property buyers, viewing over 89 million property pages and generating over 350,000 enquiries for real estate developer and agent advertisers – every month.
Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 by 2 entrepreneurs with a vision to simplify the property search process and help buyers, sellers and investors make better property decisions faster. Taking advantage of Asia’s growing affluence, property demand and online explosion, it received its first VC investment funding in 2008 and most recently secured approximately $60m investment in 2012 from Deutsche Telekom, South East Asia’s largest digital investment to date. Since its launch, PropertyGuru has reported rapid growth and most recently announced a record 96% increase in revenue, 60% increase in internet users and 50% increase in paying agent advertisers to over 24,000 – in 2012.
About Added Value
Added Value (www.added-value.com) provides consultancy on brand development and marketing insight for iconic brands, both big and small, around the world. We help solve clients’ central marketing questions about market, brand, innovation and communications with a footprint that now extends across 22 locations in 13 countries. Added Value is part of Kantar, WPP’s consumer insight and consultancy division.
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