Tong encouraged by improving sentiments
PETALING JAYA: The property industry for 1H2022 is expected to remain subdued although there is increasing optimism that the market will improve for 2H2022.
This is based on the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) Property Industry Survey 2022 findings. The survey revealed that there was a drop in the number of units launched.
“While this is a voluntary survey that attracted 124 respondents from our membership base of over 1,500 and therefore will not capture the full statistics, it nonetheless serves as a useful guide and a good reflection of the sentiment in the property industry,” said Rehda acting president Datuk NK Tong.
“While the results do reflect the challenges faced by the industry, I am encouraged by the improving sentiment and outlook in the second half of 2022, as developers put behind the pandemic of the past two years to focus on our nation-building efforts of housing the Rakyat,” he said.
Within the review period, a total of 10,665 units were launched, which was 8% lower than 1H 2021 with 11,601 units. The majority of these units were residential and priced from RM250,001 to RM700,000. Two to three-storey terrace units, located mostly in Seremban, proved to be the most popular with 3,165 units, followed by apartments/condominiums and serviced apartments at 2,909 units and 2,363 units respectively.
Despite the lower number of launched units, sales performance reported an 11% increase from 39% to 50% from 4,540 units in 1H2021 to 5,303 units in 2H2021 with only 22 of them comprising commercial units.
The top performers were again two to three-storey terrace houses at 2,213 units. located mostly in Seremban. First-time buyers maintained their position as the highest number of purchasers albeit a drop in percentage.
Unsold units
A total of 67 respondents had reported having 30% and below of unsold residential units, mostly affecting units priced from RM250,001 to RM500,000 and RM500,001 to RM700,000 (39% and 18% respectively).
A total of 64% of respondents with unsold units cited that their unsold completed units are more than two years of age, identifying loan rejection, low demand or interest and unreleased Bumiputera units as the top three reasons for unsold units.
In terms of business operations, 79% of respondents remarked that within the period under review, overall costs of doing business is the highest over five years with an increase of up to 18%.
Meanwhile, 96% of respondents reported that they were affected by the current economic scenario. The top three components affecting cash flow were material and labour costs, compliance costs as well as financing and land costs which shared the number three spot.
Future launches
Up to 51% of respondents planned to launch projects in 1H2022, totalling 24,557 units. Of those, 77% of the respondents were anticipating their sales performance to be 50% and below for 1H2022.
Most states aimed to launch residential units within the RM250,001 to RM500,000 price range. Johor, Selangor and Penang, on the other hand, will mostly have units priced from RM500,001 to RM700,000 in their 2022 offerings. The outlook for 2022 is said to be neutral but respondents are more optimistic for 2H2022.
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