Kota Kinabalu Posts Highest Demand For Second Hand Homes

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Premendran Pathmanathan, general manager of customer data solutions, REA Group Asia, and David Mawer, general manager Malaysia, iProperty.com.my, presenting the Portal Demand Analytic 2019 report..KUALA LUMPUR: Kota Kinabalu has emerged as the top capital city, with demand growth of 24.72% year-on-year for subsale (secondary sale) residential properties
The number of users looking at Kota Kinabalu grew at a much faster pace in 2019 compared with the growth in the number of listings, according to iProperty.com.my’s 2019 Portal Demand Analytics released today
The publication provides an overview of subsale property demand, using iProperty.com.my’s user visits and property listings data for residential subsale properties in Malaysia, with a particular focus on Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor
It was unveiled at the opening of iProperty.com.my Home & Property Fair 2020 here today and presented by Premendran Pathmanathan, general manager of customer data solutions, REA Group Asia
Premendran said the growth in user visits on iProperty.com.my continued to outpace the growth in listings for three property types — terrace houses, condominium units and serviced residences
Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya trails at a close second at 22.13% but Melaka City, which saw its number of listings double in 2019, saw demand plunge by 5.3%
The surge in listings was contributed by condominium projects being utilised as short-term rental units
In summary, Premendran noted that Kuala Lumpur properties improved in demand and recorded a 19.8% growth
Its median pricing was still the highest in the country at RM516,000 in 2019, although this figure had dipped from the first half of the year
“The Portal Demand Analytics median price of RM540,000 was in tandem with a capital depreciation of-1.61% in 2019
“Benefiting from an overflow of population away from the city centre, Selangor’s residential demand grew 22.4% in 2019,” he added
While the number of listings remained constant, the growth was brought about by a higher number of visits, especially by users checking out the terrace home category
Penang also experienced a turnaround with demand figures increasing to 10.6% in 2019 from a disappointing -4.4% in the first half of 2019
According to Premendran, the positive shift could be attributed to the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, recently approved by the state government to be part of its multi-billion ringgit Penang Master Transport Plan (PTMP)
The government also announced that several PTMP projects, including the PSR, will be tendered out in the second half of 2020
As for Johor, the residential property landscape remained sluggish towards the end of the year. Johor is the only major state to register a negative growth in demand in 2019. Demand figures continue their downward trend at -12.2%
Demand during the first six months of 2019 was even lower at -16.6%
The poor performance can be attributed to a property oversupply
There has been an influx of property listings in the review period as a result of owners of numerous newly-built properties having received vacant possession, said Premendran
Among the three property types, terrace houses emerged tops in 2019 in terms of capital appreciation with a 3.16% capital growth compared with 2018
Serviced residences, which recorded the highest demand growth in the first half of 2019, maintained their top position among the three property types, ending the year with a demand growth of 17.3% year-on-year
Condominium units recorded a turnaround with a 14.2% growth compared with -5.9% in the first six months of 2019. This was partly attributed to a drop in the number of listings in the second half of the year
However, this property type registered the lowest capital growth percentage in 2019 at -2.02%
Property prices in major cities throughout the country are slowly converging, with more affordable (second-tier) cities seeing their property values increase over time
For instance, Premendran said Seremban, which offers properties with an affordable median price of RM200,000, is highly attractive when coupled with factors such as connectivity and proximity to the Klang Valley, thereby contributing to its higher capital growth of 9.91%
The analysis, with additional data compiled from brickz.my, aims to provide an insight for policymakers and property developers on preferences for residential properties
Premendran said iProperty.com.my is the first to publish such demand analytics in Malaysia
“Tailored to initiate conversations among stakeholders, the analytics also serve to align industry players with market sentiments to facilitate better decision-making,” he added. - FMT

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