KUALA LUMPUR: The real estate sector has shown promising signs of growth and resilience during the first half of this year (1H 2023), supported by a favourable economic landscape, said Knight Frank Malaysia.
In its Real Estate Highlights for 1H 2023 (REH), the independent global property consultancy firm provided insights into the performance of the property markets across Klang Valley, Penang, Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu.
It said the country’s residential property market staged a strong rebound in 2022 with a 22.4 per cent yearly increase in sales volume and a corresponding 22.6 per cent growth in sales value following the normalisation of economic activity.
During the review period, the condominium and serviced apartment segment in Kuala Lumpur experienced mixed trends in prices, with properties in Kenny Hills and Mont Kiara seeing price growth, while those in KL city and Bangsar saw slight dips in the average transacted prices.
“In the first quarter of this year (1Q 2023), 53,923 residential properties with a collective value of RM20,874.56 million were sold,” it said.
Nonetheless, the firm remains cautiously optimistic about the recovery of the residential property market due to rising borrowing costs and inflationary pressures amid a slowing economy.
As for the office sector, Knight Frank Malaysia observed strengthening market activity as the business climate continues to stabilise.
“For the retail sector, Malaysia’s retail sales expanded 13.8 per cent in 1Q 2023 following an impressive growth of 33.3 per cent for the full year of 2022.
“However, with slowing global growth amid weaker economic outlook, annual retail sales growth for 2023 is projected to moderate to 4.8 per cent,” it said.
It noted that the scheduled completions and openings of The Exchange TRX and Pavilion Damansara Heights (Phase 1) – two highly anticipated shopping centres with a collective retail space of circa 1.83 million square feet – are expected to take place in 2H 2023.
Meanwhile, for the industrial sector, the market in Klang Valley continues to gain momentum, propelled by a surge in demand from end-users, manufacturers, and investors.
“The country has emerged as the top destination for data centre investments with Cyberjaya being the main location in Klang Valley, while emerging locations include Bukit Jalil and Petaling Jaya.
“Moreover, the forthcoming completion of major infrastructure projects, such as the West Coast Expressway (WCE) and the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) by 2025 and 2027, respectively, are set to revolutionise connectivity between industrial areas in the region,” it said.
Rounding off the outlook for 2023, Knight Frank Malaysia concluded that introducing green incentives would be the key to driving the property sector forward.
“We hope that the government will continue to introduce ‘green incentives’, aimed at property buyers, landlords, occupiers and developers who are aligned with the nation’s target of becoming a ‘net zero’ nation by 2050,” it added. – BERNAMA
