BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM

Affordable houses continued to be in demand with more than 65% of the residential transactions within RM300,000 and below.

KAJANG: The local property segment recorded a 11.5% decline in volume and 3% drop in value last year compared with 2015, as the market continued to remain soft, said the Valuation & Property Services Department (JPPH).

In a statement, it said more than 320,000 transactions worth RM145.41bil were recorded last year, with all sub sectors except the agriculture sub sector recording a decline in market activity in 2016.

At the launch of its Property Market Report 2016 today, JPPH said the residential sub sector continued to drive the overall market with 63.4% contribution in volume and 45.1% in value.

"Affordable houses continued to be in demand with more than 65% of the residential transactions within RM300,000 and below.

"As the market continued to soften, the number of new launches declined to nearly 53,000 units, reduced by 9.8% compared with more than 58,000 units in 2015."

JPPH said sales performance was also lower at 31.4% compared with 42.1% in 2015.

"The slow market absorption also led to the increase in overhang. The numbers grew to 14,792 units worth RM8.56bil, up by 43.8% in volume and 70.7% in value against 2015."

In the office and retail sector, JPPH said vacancy continued to increase.

"Kuala Lumpur and Selangor recorded 2.74 million sq meters of vacant office space, an increase of 16% compared with 2015.

Vacant retail space also increased to 2.7 million sq meters, which was an increase of 11.9% against 2015.

On the outlook, JPPH said the property market is expected to remain soft over the next couple of years.

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