Strong Q1 showing in Malaysia’s property market as transaction volume, new projects rise

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Malaysia's property market is rebounding after years of pandemic-induced slowdown, the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) said today, as data showed strong growth both in transaction volume and construction of new homes in the first quarter of this year.

Over 104,000 transactions were recorded in the January to March period, registering a 17 per cent growth from the same period in 2023 and a 37 per cent growth or RM56.53 billion in value, the department said in a report released this morning.

Residential properties continued to dominate market activities, accounting for 60.2 per cent of total transactions, followed by agriculture at 20.5 per cent.

Homes under RM300,000 topped all purchases and accounted for half of all residential transactions, followed by properties priced between RM300,00 and half a million, indicative of persistent demand for the so-called "affordable segment".

"The eight per cent increase (in new construction) is a positive early showing for the domestic real estate market," JPPH director-general Abdul Razak Yusak said in a briefing streamed on the agency's Facebook page.

Construction of new units also registered strong growth, reaching over 21,000 or around a thousand more than the same period last year. There were 5,885 newly launched units in the first quarter of this year, a 19 per cent year-on-year growth.

Still, developers have little appetite for new developments, with fewer new projects planned in the first quarter and likely for the rest of the year. New planned supply dropped 15 per cent to 11,024 in the January to March period this year compared to Q1 2023.

The home price index rose but just marginally by 0.5 per cent to 216.9 year-on-year, making home prices averaging at around RM468,000 a unit.

All states recorded modest growth in home prices of between 0.5 and 4.6 per cent bar Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak, Melaka and Sarawak, where prices contracted between 0.2 and 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of overhang properties dropped to 24,000 units from 26,000 units from the same period last year but the number of unsold serviced apartments increased slightly, by about 5 per cent to 21,913 units valued at RM18.16 billion.

Properties priced between RM500,000 and RM1 million accounted for over half the number of overhang units.