KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Malaysia’s property market is still dealing with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in the third quarter of 2020 (Q3 2020), said property site, PropertyGuru Malaysia.

Its Malaysia Property Market Index (MPMI) report has revealed a downward trend in asking prices across all four key markets of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor.

"Overall, property asking prices in Malaysia dropped by 1.34 per cent this quarter; in contrast to the 0.38 per cent increase registered in Q2 2020 and 0.63 per cent increase in Q1 2020.

"For the first time this year, all key markets saw prices falling, indicating that this could be more than a quick dip,” it said in a statement today.

The MPMI aggregates and indexes data from over 450,000 listings on PropertyGuru.com.my to demonstrate the movement of supply-side pricing.

PropertyGuru believes that the implementation of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) due to rising Covid-19 cases will impact current and future commercial activities, leading to a dampening effect on asking prices and the overall property market.

Johor registered the sharpest decline in Q3 where asking prices fell by 2.97 per cent, while Kuala Lumpur and Selangor also projected weak figures with 1.35 per cent and 1.04 per cent contractions, respectively.

Meanwhile, Penang also saw a slight contraction of 0.64 per cent this quarter, it said, noting that the slight downward dip in asking prices indicates that the state is a stable haven for those who wish to preserve their assets through property investments.

According to the National Property Information Centre (Napic)’s Property Market Report for the first half of 2020 (1H 2020), asking prices may continue to take a dip in the months to come.

"Despite these findings, there is a silver lining as it may unlock pent-up demand for millennials looking for affordable homes,” said PropertyGuru Malaysia country manager Sheldon Fernandez.

On the supply of new properties, he said overall, Selangor recorded the largest increase at 23.55 per cent this quarter.

"Market watchers continue to be confident of the state's long-term prospect, despite it having the second-largest property overhang in the country,” said Fernandez.

Other states also saw quarter-on-quarter growth in new properties, namely Penang (20.30 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (14.39 per cent) and Johor (18.36 per cent).

Meanwhile, Johor recorded the largest number of overhang properties in the country, with 6,166 unsold completed units in the market.

"As for Kuala Lumpur, it is going through a challenging period with weakened interest from foreign investors, leaving an unsold upmarket stock that is mismatched with local appetites and affordability range,” added Fernandez.

Based on Napic’s 1H 2020 report, Malaysia’s residential property overhang rose 3.3 per cent to 31,661 completed units worth RM20.03 billion during the period, compared to 30,664 units valued at RM18.82 billion in 1H 2019. — Bernama