Property mart to improve this year
Published on: Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Kuala Lumpur: The property market is expected to improve this year due to the positive domestic market environment, said Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) Patron, Datuk Ng Seing Liong.Ng said with the country's economy on the right track, gross domestic product of 5.9 per cent together with higher Employees Provident Fund dividend (6.9 per cent) last year, it has instilled a positive sentiment in the market. "The country's economy is stable and people are able to have better savings hence putting the property market in a comfortable position," Ng said at a press conference here on Tuesday in conjunction with the coming Malaysia Property Expo 2018 (Mapex 2018).
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Ng, who is also the Organising Chairman of Mapex 2018, said with the nation's economy doing well, the productivity and income level would also rise in parallel to it and this would increase one's savings."The sentiment from the buyers, especially in the affordable housing sector, is improving," he said.A recent report by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), said that houses in 2016, were "seriously unaffordable" by international standards.It said the housing affordability issue was largely due to the supply-demand mismatch and slower income growth.
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BNM estimated the maximum price of an affordable house in the country to be RM282,000 based on the housing cost burden approach.Ng said the government has targeted to build one million affordable houses nationwide for the Bottom 40 per cent category and various efforts had been introduced like the MyDeposit scheme, Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia and others.
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"Rehda emphasises affordable housing (in the price range of RM200,000 to RM300,000) and we, as a private entity is open to work with the government," he said. Ng said Mapex 2018 was expected to attract about 60 renowed developers to promote home ownership and property investment, with a target sales value of about RM500 million.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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