KL, Selangor, Penang, Johor remain top choices for properties

KUALALUMPUR:PropertyGuru’s online portal, which has over 1.3 million Malaysians searching for properties, has seen a surge of interest in a number of property hotspotsidentifiedinKualaLumpur, Selangor, Penang, and Johor despite declining prices.

BasedonthePropertyGuruMarket Index (PMI), the property demand in Kuala Lumpur still remained strong with the most popular and highly searched areas being Bangsar, Mont Kiara and Cheras with types include condominiums, apartments and townhouses.

It said the reason for high-rises being the most preferred property type in Kuala Lumpur may be due to their more affordable entry price points.

“Intermsof thepricebracket,many are searching below the RM300,000 bracket which is not feasible for the locations that are preferred, since many of these locations are priced above the affordability range,” said the Index.

The PMI is an analysis of over 250,000 property listings aggregated and indexed which shows that asking prices of homes in Malaysia continue to show a 2.3 per cent drop year on year -- an opportune time for house buyers to purchase a home.

PropertyGuru Malaysia Country Manager Sheldon Fernandez said there was an obvious mismatch between what is desired and what is actually achievable.

“And one of the best ways to check what is achievable is by utilising the PropertyGuru Mortgage Pre-Qualifier (https:// www.propertyguru.com.my/ mortgageprequalifier) that is able to tell buyers if they are eligible for a loan, in a 99.5 per cent accuracy check,” he said.

Meanwhile, the demand for properties in Selangor continues to be high despite declining prices, with properties in Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Subang Jaya topping the list in this order, according to the PMI.

It said properties that most searched for in these areas were condominiums, followed by apartments and two-storey terrace houses,withmanylookingattransitoriented development properties.

Fernandez said there was a strong upswing in demand for properties strategically located or directly connected to the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)andLRT(LightRailTransit) lines.

“Other factors such as maintenance of the property, as well as lifestyle facilities will play a part for buyers to ascertain if it is a right fit, given that buyers are spoilt for choices in a market that is saturated by supply,” he added. — Bernama