Property market to remain subdued in 2017
KUALA LUMPUR: The property market is expected to remain subdued in 2017 mired by issues such as unaffordability, high rejection of loan applications and macroeconomic issues such as rising living costs and smaller growth in incomes.
Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) President, Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor, said the challenging trend from last year, which saw a significant drop in property offerings, was expected to continue to at least in the first half of next year.
“We do not see any improvement at least until in the first half of 2017,” he said at the PropertyGuru 2017 Outlook Forum here yesterday.
He said the weak property market has seen the volume of property offerings declined by 30 per cent in the third quarter of this year as compared to the same period last year.
Fateh Iskandar said sales had also declined significantly to about 30 per cent of the offerings in the first half of this year from 52 per cent in the same period last year.
Country Manager of online property portal, PropertyGuru Malaysia, Sheldon Fernandes, said with the completion of many new projects next year, the property market was expected to remain flattish to marginal decline next year.
He said difficulties in obtaining loans was also another barrier in property ownership as evidenced by the drop of loans approval to 42 per cent this year from over 50 per cent last year.
However, he said, this would gave way to the growth of rental market which was an alternative for the people who were unable to purchase house.
“The market continues to have its bright spots with the rental market expected to remain strong, fuelled by a growing young, first-time buyers who, in deferring their home purchase decision, would look to the rental market while continuing to save for their future home,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fateh Iskandar has urged the government to open up the full loan scheme for Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) houses, announced in the Budget 2017, to private developers who built affordable houses priced RM300,000 and below.
He said private developers could complement Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia, the body that oversee PR1MA development, in the areas that the agency were unable to go to.
“Rehda members are from Perlis to Sabah. We can help build PR1MA houses in areas where Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia can’t go,” he said.
The one-day forum, organised by PropertyGuru, discussed the trend of property market this year and forecast for next year as well as recent development and challenges going forward. — Bernama