THE SUN DAILY. 20TH SEPTEMBER: More than half or 56% of Malaysians are keen to enter the property market in 2024 despite economic challenges and rising property prices, a study conducted by PropertyGuru Malaysia and iProperty Malaysia indicates.
Its consumer sentiment study (CSS) for the second half of 2023 (H2’23) showed that the purchasing intent of potential homebuyers remains constant when compared with the H1’23 CSS at 55%.
Additionally, the biannual study found that in terms of homebuying readiness, 31% have no interest to buy or rent property, while 14% prefer to rent property.
Although the intention to buy is strong among Malaysians, 87% of respondents rank high property prices as the biggest barrier to their buying ambitions, followed by rising interest rates (66%), economic recession concerns (43%), inability to get bank home loans (42%), down payment (38%) and political instability (24%).
Country manager Sheldon Fernandez said the local property market in the first half of the year was riddled with external economic pressures.
He cited Bank Negara Malaysia’s data from June, which recorded a decrease in loan applications, as well as PropertyGuru’s Malaysia Property Market Report Q3’23 that saw a decrease in property enquiries in the second quarter of the year.
“While we do expect slower transaction activity in the housing market for the rest of the year, we hope that the gradually stabilising economy will revive Malaysians appetite for properties in 2024,” he told reporters during a CSS H2’23 media briefing today.
Fernandez said rising property prices coupled with stagnant wages and increasing living costs have made home ownership aspirations harder to attain for most Malaysians.
While lauding the government for implementing various schemes to boost home ownership, he pointed out that income growth or buyer income is the main factor that needs to be addressed.
“If you look at income growth versus property prices growth over the last few years, there’s a disparity, the median income grew 2.5% last year as opposed to over 3% increase pre-pandemic. So you can see that median income needs to catch up with property prices, and it’s good and encouraging to see the government playing a role in this. Minimum wage increase is one factor that can help.
“We see a lot of foreign investment into higher paying jobs, like data centres, that’s one key initiative. You also see the government giving a lot more room for entrepreneurs for SME growth, innovation that could hopefully spur opportunity for income growth,” he said.
Fernandez said that with consumer budgets shrinking or being maintained against the backdrop of rising costs, consumers are willing to compromise on most property amenities to be able to afford homes.
About 49% of respondents are willing to forgo gyms, playgrounds (46%), jogging tracks or recreational spaces (45%) and balconies (43%) if it leads to lower property prices as they prefer to prioritise parking spaces, functional kitchens and second bathroom. The shift highlights a changing consumer preference where practicality and cost savings are prioritised when selecting a home.