Growing foreign interest in Sabah properties — MIEA
KOTA KINABALU: Property industry practitioners should bank on foreign interests on Sabah properties, urged Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) president Victor Wong.
Wong said projects under the Sabah Development Corridor Blueprint and tourism industry are set to underpin the state's economic growth and boost demand for properties.
He said Sabah's strategic location and short travel distance were attracting investors from neighbouring countries including Japan, Korea and even Taiwan.
"In 2016, Sabah's tourism industry has achieved an all-time high record of 3.43 million tourist arrivals and RM7.25 billion tourism receipts.
“International visitors alone saw a 15.3 per cent increase and China was the biggest contributor, recording a 51.8 per cent increase from the year before," said Wong during the Malaysian Secondary and Primary Property Exhibition (MASPEX) Sabah 2017 launch at the Imago Shopping Mall here yesterday.
"While gaining its popularity, Sabah has also become one of the preferred destinations for many foreigners intending to settle in Malaysia through the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) scheme.
"Our members and practitioners should look to expand their horizons to market internationally and seize this opportunity to tap into this new growing market demand for Sabah properties," he advised.
Wong also said that the national property trend clearly showed that the secondary market was still present today.
"Based on JPPH's (Valuation and Property Services Department) recent preliminary property market brief 2017, the volume of transaction for 2017 is recorded at RM67.82 billion, which depicts a positive five per cent increase compared to RM64.6 billion in 2016. The residential sub-sector accounts for 48.4 per cent of the said total volume transactions in 2017.
"A total of 94,992 residential transactions were recorded in 2017, of which 83 per cent are derived from the secondary market. This statistics clearly show that the secondary market is still very much active despite the current market sentiments.
"Actually, now is the best time for bargain hunting and negotiating for the best deals. Sellers are more flexible and are willing to negotiate. Do not wait until the market improves. When the market improves, sellers will be holding back for better pricing and it will be tougher to negotiate for good deals," he advised.
The three-day MASPEX Sabah 2017, held for the second time in Kota Kinabalu, will go on until November 19 at the lower ground floor at the Imago Shopping Mall here.
Among the exhibitors partaking in MASPEX here are Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB), Victor Wong Realty, Razak City, Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia, Bornion Realty, Property Hub (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, Property Hunter, Affin Bank, Marico Realty and Forest City.