PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s property market showed positive growth in the third quarter of 2023 with a 3.7% increase in volume and 22.6% in value compared to Q3;22. More than 100,000 transactions worth RM57.15 billion were recorded in the review period.

According to the director-general of valuation and property services department, the residential continued to support the overall property market activity with a 62.9% share in volume, recording 68,561 transactions worth RM28.36 billion.

By price range, residential property in the price range of RM300,000 and below dominated the market activity, recorded 35,948 (52.4%) transactions, followed by RM300,001 to RM500,000 with 16,947 (24.7%) transactions and 500,001 and above with 15,666 (22.9%) transactions. By types, demand focuses on terraced houses, which formed around 40% of the total.

The primary market saw more new launches in the Q3’23. The new launches recorded nearly 6,900 units, against 4,797 units in Q2’23. Sales performance for new launches recorded of a 37.6%, higher than 24.7% compared to previous quarter. Selangor recorded the highest number of new launches in the country at 2,491 units which was about 36.2% of the total nationwide, with a better sales performance of 69.1%. WP Kuala Lumpur offered the second highest amount (1,439 units, 21.9% share) with a sales performance of 23.4%.

Johor came third (1,088 units, 15.8% share) with sales performance at 16.4%. By priced range, new launches priced at RM300,000 and below dominated over 70.0% (5,075 units) with a better sales performance of 44.1%, followed by RM300,001 to RM500,000 with 11.8% (813 units) and above RM500,001 amounting to 993 units (14.4%).

The country’s overhang numbers, which have decreased since the beginning of this year, has shown a strengthening situation in the housing market. According to the director-general of valuation and property services department, the residential overhang situation improved as the numbers reduced in Q3’23. A total of 25,311 overhang units worth RM17.4 billion was recorded, showing a decrease of 3.7% and 4.9% in volume and value respectively compared to Q2’23. Likewise, the unsold under-construction residential units saw a slight decrease of 1.6% to 53,951 units compared to Q2’23 (54,844 units).

In Q3’23P, the Malaysian House Price Index (MHPI) stood at 212.6 points (RM458,751 per unit) with a marginal annual growth of 0.1%. All states experienced moderate growth, ranging between 0.1% and 4%, except Selangor (-1.6%), Pahang (-0.7%), Kelantan (-1.4%) and Sarawak (-1.2%). By house type, the Terraced House Price Index recorded a positive annual growth of 0.8%, with index movement stood at 238 points while the High-Rise Unit Price Index, Detached House Price Index and Semi-Detached House Price Index recorded a slight decrease of 1.1%, 0.1% and 1.0% respectively.

Residential property expected to remain cautiously optimistic

The recovery of the residential property market remains cautiously optimistic, albeit at a slower pace. The sentiment of industry players, rising borrowing and construction costs and inflationary pressures will impact the residential property supply.