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WEAK PROPERTY MARKET
PROVIDES UNIQUE PURCHASING
OPPORTUNI T I ES
FOR HOME
BUYERS AND INVESTORS
W
hile
the property market
is still recovering from the
various cooling measures,
theintroductionofthegoods
andservices tax (GST), thecurrent political
and economic climate, weakening ringgit
andstringent bank regulations, asurveyby
the iPropertyGroup, Asia’sNo.1 networkof
propertyportals,haverevealedthatmajority
ofMalaysiansarestill interested inpurchas-
ing property.The only difficulty they face is
that it is harder toqualify for home loans.
The iProperty.com Asia Property Market
Sentiment Survey (H1) 2016, which is the
ninthiterationofthesurveyandthelongest-
running study of its kind, was conducted
on the iProperty Group’s leading websites
in Malaysia
(iProperty.com.my)
, Indonesia
(Rumah123.com and rumahdanprop-
erti.com)
, Hong Kong
(GoHome.com.hk
and Square-foot.com.hk)
and Singapore
(iProperty.com.sg)
.
THERESPONDENTS
The survey polled close to 13,000 respon-
dents and 40% of respondents were from
Malaysia.Majority(71%)wereagedbetween
21 to 40 years old and 58% were married.
Respondentsweremainlypropertyowners
looking to purchase an-other property
(39%) or first-time home buyers (26%).
Slightly more than a tenth of the survey
respondents (15%) are just monitoring the
market.
Sheddinglightonthesurveyfindings, iProp-
erty Group’s CEO, Georg Chmiel said that
thesurveyfindingsshowedthatMalaysia’s
propertysector isexpectedtobe“flat” this
year,whilemarket priceswill benefit those
looking tobuyor rent houses.
KEY FINDINGS
•
Weakening Ringgit Spurs Inter-
est fromSingaporeans
The weakening Ringgit has resulted in
higher interest fromSingaporeans look-
ingtoinvest inMalaysia,morespecifically,
Iskandar Malaysia. Survey respondents
from Singapore have revealed that
Iskandar Puteri (previously known as
Nusajaya) (59%) and Johor Bahru City
(40%) are the preferred investment
locationwithin IskandarMalaysia.
•
NoSavingsduetoHighHousehold
Expenses
Half of the respondents (50%) can
cover their household’s expenses but
areunabletosave.Withmorethanhalfof
re-spondents(60%)owningtheproperty
that they live in,majorityof themarestill
payingmortgageswhichhavemorethan
20years left.Thefindingshave revealed
that54%canmanagetheirmonthlyloan
repayments, while22%facedifficulties.
•
HighInteresttoPurchasebutAf-
fordabilityContinuestoRemain
aMajorConcern
Despitea lowpercentageofrespondents
that purchased properties in the last
12 months, many still believe that it is
cur-rently a good time to invest in both
primary and secondary properties. The
threemost popular types of property to
pur-chasehavebeenconsistentamong
thesurveyrespondents-PrivateCondo-
minium / Serviced Apartment, Terrace
Houses andFlat /Walk-upApartment.
Most respondents (63%) are looking to
purchase in the next 12 months from
now,whileasignificantpercentage(37%)
areonly looking topurchase at least in2
years’ time. The budget to purchase still
remains up toRM500, 000.
•
InsufficientAffordableHousing
Available
Despitethegovernment’seffortstohave
moreaffordablehousingavailable,66%of
respondents, especiallyKLbasedhome
buyers, feel thattheadditional affordable
homes are insufficient as there is still a
strongmigration from low tome-dium-
lowincomehouseholdsindifferentstates
coming intoKlangValley.
CONCLUSION–AWEAKENEDMAR-
KET IS GOOD FOR THOSE THAT CAN
BUYORDON’THAVE TOSELL
Property is still viewed themost attractive
investment choice by survey respondents.
Our survey respondents have informed
us that property is the most preferred
investment option due to capital growth
opportunities and it’s also more stable
compared to other assets. As such, a flat
propertysectorprovidesexcellentpurchas-
ing opportunities for those with access to
funds.Aweakenedmarket isgoodforthose
withholdingpower,” saidChmiel.
He concluded by saying that starting from
the second half of 2016, the market will
commenceto inchforwardslowlyand itwill
start to rise again in 1-2year’s time.
The full surveyfindings canbedownloaded
for free directly from
http://iprop.my/
APMSS2016H1Report