Findings from MIEA report the issue of overhang occurs due to many factors.

PETALING JAYA: Findings from the Malaysia Institute of Estate Agents' (MIEA) 2021 property market report reveal a strong recovery and envisage increased improvements in 2022.

MIEA president Chan Ai Cheng reported a 1.5% increase in transactions from 2020 to 2021, which may have been assisted by the government’s Home Ownership Campaign (HOC).

As in previous years, transactions in the residential sector took the lead, followed by agriculture and commercial. However, with the total of 43,860 new residential properties launched in 2021, only 39.3% were sold, resulting in the highest rate of overhang seen over the last 5 years.

“We feel it is time for the government through KPKT (Ministry of Housing and Local Government) to intervene by adopting stricter guidelines or SOP (standard operating procedures) towards building approvals at the state level to provide a check and balance,” Chan said.

Findings from MIEA report the issue of overhang occurs due to many factors such as a lack of research, poor understanding of supply versus demand and poor development. While Chan requests for the government to strengthen and implement new guidelines, she also encourages developers struggling with overhang units to work with real estate agencies rather than an in-house sales team, as estate agents have a wealth of experience and training in marketing property.

The report also reveals an increase in affordable housing development with 70.8% of such units launched below the RM500,000 category. 

To keep up with the market and professionally represent the public, Chan requests that the National Property Information Centre (Napic) data be made available for all practitioners on a timely basis. Homebuyers should not be turned away by the rate of overhang and be assured that the market is on an upward trend.

“As advised before, always do your own research and let location specific and type specific data guide your decisions. Broad or generic comments take the average and may not be reflective of the type of property or the location you have in mind to purchase and may misguide you,” Chan said.

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