Market Prediction For 2H 2018 And Upcoming Trends In Mont Kiara

The GuruTalk seminar held by PropertyGuru Group on 14th July at UEM Sunrise Showcase had homebuyers and investors arriving an hour before the start of the event. The atmosphere of the event was heightened when 80 participants turned up to find out about the Malaysia property market outlook for 2H 2018 and the market trends of Mont Kiara.

The seminar kickstarted with prospects of the Malaysia property market post GE and on how would the major changes in economic and housing policy affect Malaysian real estate, presented by Mr Kit Au-Yong, Registered Valuer, Estate Agent, Property Manager and Auctioneer, Laurelcap Sdn Bhd.

“We have witnessed the most significant event in Malaysian history with the change in our Government followed by a transformation in our economic policy. To elaborate further, looking into GDP growth trend from 2016 to 2018, the record shows a 4.2 percent, 5.6 percent and 5.4percent growth in Q1 of 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. This indicates that there is a very slight change in the GDP growth, despite the change in the federal government,” Kit said. This also means that fundamental of the economics will remain similar in the short term, despite concerns along with the major change in the country’s political landscape.

The Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) indicates that there will still be a rise in home buying activity and unemployment rate remains low, as of 1H 2018. Consumer confidence remains healthy with the abolishment of GST tax and with the implementation of SST.

Apart from that, the transaction values and volume in Q1 2017 and Q1 2018 have been steadily increasing across both residential and commercial sectors. House prices in Malaysia have been on a downward trend from 2013 to 2017 across all segments (high-rise, detached and semi-D) except for terraced houses.

Kit further elaborated on the latest updates and the upcoming future plans for the Malaysia property market.

“Bank Negara has recently reported that the growth in the Malaysian economy would remain favourable in 2018, with a stabilised domestic demand, trade performance and private consumption with wage and employment growth. Investment activity may likely see an increase due to a rise in public transportation such as LRT and MRT. Loan approval rate will remain at 71.5% for houses priced less than RM500K,” he further explained.

Homebuyers and investors can expect further announcement in the economic and housing related policy. This includes affordable housing such as PRIMA, foreign purchaser’s policy, planning control changes, credit policy, level of transparency and housing loan relaxation.

Attendees also got a glimpse of the development trends of Mont Kiara and Solaris Dutamas over the last 20 years from Aldrin Tan, Managing Director from Esprit Estate Agent Sdn Bhd. This aims to help them decide if Solaris Dutamas, Publika and Residensi Solaris Parq are their next potential investment destinations.

Along with a tour around the UEM Sunrise sales gallery, the attendees enjoyed a complimentary mini watch making workshop, held in collaboration with Watch Guild. Watch lovers and prominent collectors gathered around the Watch Guild booth to find out how watches are being made and gain first-hand experience in assembling the bits and pieces to make a fine watch.

GuruTalk is a series of knowledge empowerment seminars aimed at providing “Guru Views” on the property market.