The rising cost of housing remains one of the main issues today and there is an urgent need to address this soon to make the property more affordable.

This is probably top on the wish list for Malaysian property developers, homebuyers, and real estate practitioners.

According to an online survey conducted by Juwai IQI, a top priority for real estate professionals across the country is to address the rising cost of housing.

Seventy-five per cent of surveyed agents agreed that the government should do more to address the higher cost. That includes 57 per cent of surveyed agents who ‘strongly’ agreed and 18 per cent who ‘somewhat’ agreed.

Juwai IQI co-founder and group chief executive officer Kashif Ansari said Malaysia has a relatively young population and workforce, and this creates strong demand for affordable residential properties in the major metropolitan areas.

“People are moving from rural areas to Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, and Johor, but property prices in these areas have increased over the past year five years. At the same time, our urban population has increased by 20 per cent, from 20 million to 25 million,” he said.

Kashif said the process of urbanisation and the global wave of rising asset costs has pushed prices up even higher than predicted.

He said although the pandemic has temporarily slowed the rate of urbanisation, the rural-urban population shift will resume once Covid-19 becomes the past.

“Real estate professionals work with homebuyers every single day, so they know the challenges they face. We believe that is why so many agents feel the upcoming Budget 2022 should include measures to address the rising cost of the property,” he said.

The survey showed that 60 per cent of real estate professionals in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor want more measures to address the cost of housing, 50 per cent in Penang, 57 per cent in Sabah, and 55 per cent in Sarawak.

Kashif reiterated that housing is a basic need and a basis for asset accumulation.

According to Research for Social Advancement, in 1990, the price of the average home was equivalent to about 4.7 years of per capita income and it has nearly doubled to 9.5 years today.

Between 1990 and 2019, the average home prices have increased 5.6 times or a 460 per cent capital appreciation.

“Malaysians who bought their own homes before prices climbed have been able to build financial security for their families. Those who can buy today will benefit from future price gains,” said Kashif.

He added that the new government will have a lot on its plate, including addressing the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: NST Online

About Celesta Residency

mixed development by Red Blue Development Sdn. Bhd. (TGB Group) in the established township of Sungai Nibong. Strategically located along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, diagonally opposite three public schools, namely SRJK(C) Kwang Hwa, SRJK(C) Shih Chung and SMK Sungai Nibong. It features a mix of residential and commercial components.

Find out more about Celesta Residency

The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) plans to make the Teluk Kumbar town into a low-carbon city, says its mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang.

“Teluk Kumbar is a nice place. Many always come here to enjoy its ambience and nice food, like mee udang.

“We plan to make this place a low-carbon city, workable and cycling-friendly,” Yew, an ardent cyclist himself, said during his speech at the official opening of the Teluk Kumbar Heights Market and Food Complex in Teluk Kumbar today.

Yew continued: “We’ll incorporate the green concept into this complex. We’ve always been here with the community to see to their needs. Hence, we’re happy here today to make this a decentralised and sustainable market.

“Decentralised and sustainable market is the way to go. We’ll look into things with a ‘less is more’ approach to bring benefits to the surrounding areas.”

He said the Teluk Kumbar Heights Market and Food Complex, costing RM1.8 million, has eight market stalls and 16 hawker stalls.

It is expected to open at the end of next month as MBPP is now in the process of interviewing applicants.

Yew said the nearby markets include the Fishermen’s Market in Sungai Batu, a private market and a morning market in Taman Sahabat.

Also present were state Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo, Bayan Lepas assemblyman Azrul Mahathir Aziz, MBPP secretary Datuk Adnnan Mohd Razali, and MBPP councillors Harvindar Singh and Nicholas Theng Jie Wey.

Jagdeep commended Yew for his initiative to make the place eco-friendly, which is in line with the Penang2030 vision for a ‘Family Focused, Green and Smart City that Inspires the Nation’.

“Congratulations to the mayor, developer and architect for such a beautiful market. I fully agree with the mayor’s suggestion to make this complex a green building. I also notice that it has already adopted the rainwater harvesting technology.

“This is an important project that has been successfully developed. There are four flats in this vicinity with several thousand people living here.

“I am happy that the market complex is easily accessible and is for the convenience of the residents here,” Jagdeep said.

Jagdeep, however, urged the public to adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) as the Covid-19 cases continue unabated.

He warned that the Penang Island City Council and Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP), together with the police, would not hesitate to close any market infringing the SOPs.

Since the pandemic occurred early last year, Jagdeep said the local authorities have shut down 16 markets – eight on the island and eight on the mainland – after several Covid-19 cases were detected.

Azrul said he was thankful to Jagdeep and MBPP for establishing a new market complex for the Teluk Kumbar residents.

“There a lot of newcomers now staying in Teluk Kumbar and I am happy that this new market will provide them the necessary service. This is one of the very good markets I have seen,” Azrul said.

Source: Buletin Mutiara

The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) has debunked the notion of property value moving towards half-price as was reported in a local daily with the heading, “Houses at half-price, anyone?”

President Chan Ai Cheng said the two properties mentioned in the publication were isolated cases and should not be used as a yardstick for the property market in the country.

“The majority of developers do offer discounts but not as dramatic as reported. In a recent poll conducted by MIEA with real estate practitioners who are on the ground and know exactly the happenings revealed no such evidence,” she said in a statement.

She said developers have no intention of reviewing their selling prices as demand is strong, especially in established localities and in new well-planned townships.

“Though admittedly the growth rate over the past three years has been less than five percent due to the challenges in the property market, the key takeaway is that the Malaysian property market is resilient,” she added.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets.com

A researcher has described Malaysia’s housing policy as something that is stuck in an “identity crisis” from which it can emerge if policy makers decide whether to view a house as an asset or a necessity.

Lillian Wee of the Research for Social Advancement (Resda) think tank said the government, in giving priority to people who can afford to buy property, was shutting out those who could not or did not want to, thereby creating unequal opportunities.

Not enough attention had been given to the growing rental market, she said, noting that this was one of the issues that had been exacerbated since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A lot of the government’s policies during and before the pandemic have prioritised home ownership and people who can afford loans or multiple houses,” she said.

“As such, those who cannot afford to take on loans or put down large downpayments are left out. These include people who choose to rent for work, mobility or lifestyle reasons. There is a lack of assistance for these people to lease affordable homes and, during the pandemic. little has been done to help them with their payments.”

Wee said housing must be viewed as essential and should therefore be made more affordable and accessible to those who need them.

“Malaysia is urbanising rapidly, with people moving from suburban and rural areas to places like Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor. However, these are the areas where housing prices are the highest and housing inequality is at its worst.

“There is a problem if someone from the M40 cannot afford to buy or rent a house in Kuala Lumpur, since it’s not just people from the T20 group that work there.”

She said this was typified by the building of 14,094 low-cost homes last year, well short of the National Affordable Housing Council’s target of 100,000 units annually.

“Instead, we are seeing a surge in homes that cost more than RM600,000, out of reach for most of the people the government should be looking to provide for.”

During the pandemic, with record unemployment and wage cuts, the lack of affordable housing has become more apparent.

Wee said Malaysia needed to ramp up the supply of affordable housing by offering incentives to developers to reinvest their profits to fund them.

She also said renters should get more protection, and called for moves to balance the legal power between landlords and tenants, which currently strongly favours the former.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com