Related Sectors

Real Estate Sector

THE MARKET IN BRIEF

The property market moderated in 2009 across all sub-sectors, recording 337,859 transactions as compared to 340,240 transactions in 2008. To date, the largest number of transactions by both local and foreign purchasers derive mainly from the four states of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor.

The industrial sub-sector softened slightly in 2009 as foreign investments into manufacturing declined by more than half from RM46.1billion in 2008 to RM22.1billion in 2009. On the local residential front, REHDA’s (Real Estate & Housing Developers Association) continuous effort in promoting home ownership via the Malaysia Property Expo (MAPEX) saw a total of 56,674 residential units worth RM16.18billion offered for sale.

Summary of New Launches from Q1 2009 to Q1 2010

Source: NAPIC

To date, the performance of the property market is positively bolstered by several measures introduced in Malaysia’s Budget 2009: 

• Housing sub-sector
  RM50million allocated under the Housing Assistance Programme and RM330million allocated to Jabatan Perumahan Negara.
   
• Commercial sub-sector
  Concerted effort to make REITs more appealing to foreign investors i.e. tax cut from 20% to 10% on dividends received by foreign institutional investors from REITS and 15% to 10% for individuals.

Malaysian REITs

Source: The Edge Financial Daily (June 2010), MPI

Another measure introduced in April 2009 allows 100% ownership for qualified and leading fund management companies to set up operations in Malaysia. A Special Taskforce to Facilitate Business, PEMUDAH, has also contributed to Malaysia’s ranking in various business indexes:

• World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index
• World Competitiveness Yearbook (IMD)

Other salient improvements from 2009 onwards is the reduction in time taken for property registration, from 144 days to 41 days for Sistem Taksiran Pindahmilik Harta that requires valuation and 34 days, without valuation. On the construction front, 103 One Stop Centres (OSC) has been established as at end 2009 to help expedite application processes for development.

As for updates of Malaysia's five economic corridors, publicly-released data in Q2 2010 signified substantial improvement in transparency of the corridors' progress. Projects currently under implementation are as follows:

Source: NAPIC Property Market Report 2009, Property Market Status Update Q1 2010, MPI Market Intelligence Reports, The Edge, Bernama