KUCHING: The residential property market continues to be soft, particularly for landed residences, while other subsegments of residences like high-rise apartments are also experiencing a slowdown in sales. According to the Real Estate Market Outlook 2019 released by CBRE and WTW Research, this is a continuation from last year's 'slow and cautious' stance as the property market adopted a wait-and-s
KUCHING: The residential property market continues to be soft, particularly for landed residences, while other subsegments of residences like high-rise apartments are also experiencing a slowdown in sales. According to the Real Estate Market Outlook 2019 released by CBRE and WTW Research, this is a continuation from last year's 'slow and cautious' stance as the property market adopted a wait-and-see attitude. "Both developers and buyers are cautious in decision-making, pending further political and economic developments," it said in the report. Figures from the Real Estate Market Outlook 2019 revealed that Kuching's landed residential market has seen very few new launches especially in prime housing areas. Most launches last year were in the outer-lying secondary prime areas, it said.
Restrictive property prices
According to statistics from the National Property Information Centre (Napic), the average price of residential properties during the second quarter of 2018 (2018) in Sarawak is at RM437,808, ranking it higher than Penang's average price of RM424,276.
Sarawak properties were ranked the fourth most expensive in Malaysia, trailing only behind Sabah, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. When asked why these exorbitant prices continue to persist, Ting explained that this was largely due to the cost of land. "The main reason why our property prices are so high is due to the high price of land.
"Don't forget, when we buy an acre of land, it does not mean we get an acre to build on. We still have to give up land for roads, utilities and back lanes," he added. Solving the issue of high land price would be key in lowering down prices, said Ting. On this, he argued that the most direct way to alleviating prices would be to revise the current plot density regulations.
Under plot ratio, the total floor space the developer can build can be twice the total area of the plot. This means the total floor space on an acre of land can reach up to twice the area of an acre which is 43,560 square feet.
CBRE and WTW Research warned that pent-up demand for housing during these few years of uncertainty might not amplify once the market recovers.
"Developers are aware of the impending overhang situation in the market which would almost triple the existing supply upon completions of projects in the pipeline," the report highlighted.