In March, Property Guru, released their findings from a survey conducted to gauge activity in the Malaysian real estate sector in 2017.
The results indicate a significant shift in consumers’ preferences within the last six months. While consumers were previously more concerned with location, PSF (per-square-foot price), and future developments in the area, now, they appear to be more interested in location, security, and size in that particular order.
Other crucial factors included availability of amenities and infrastructure, reputation of the developer, and future developments in the area. While these three ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively, interestingly, rental income only reached thirteenth on the list, indicating more owner-occupiers than investors.
Property Guru Malaysia Country Manager, Sheldon Fernandez, insists the shift in consumers’ concerns reflects their present mind-set and expectations.
As far as location is concerned, many property buyers are looking to live outside the city centre, with 29% of consumers regarding the outskirts of Selangor as their preferred choice, as opposed to 25% in 2016.
While high-rise strata homes comprising both condominiums and apartments are the foremost choice followed by landed terrace houses, bungalows and semi-detached houses continue to drop in popularity.
While it is expected to see more owner-occupiers, it is important to remember this only reflects trends to be seen over the next six months or so.
In an interview with FMT News, veteran property expert, Ernest Cheong, made an elaborate illustration explaining why it is more sensible for Malaysians to rent as opposed to buying property. On the long run, with more Malaysians thinking along those lines, rental properties will be the way to go for foreign investors.
Malaysia’s property prices are reasonable for foreign investors, especially when you begin to compare with other Asian countries such as China.