KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Lack of affordability stemming from rising house prices continues to be the main concern of property buyers in Malaysia, a survey by a property group has found.
The online poll by iProperty, which owns Asia's largest network of property sites, found that 85.8 per cent of respondents thought the high cost of buying a home was the biggest concern facing the local property market.
Errant developers and build quality was also an issue, with 57.2 per cent saying it was of “high concern”, with worries over home financing policies and interest rates coming in a close third at 53.6 per cent of those polled in the Asia Property Market Sentiment Report 2012.
Only 31.4 per cent felt economic and political uncertainty would affect their decision to buy or invest in property in the coming year.
Despite this, Malaysians were bullish on the local property market and expect it to continue growing despite lingering doubts over the health of the global economy.
Nearly 60 per cent said the market was holding up well despite the threat of a worldwide recession, compared to just 19 per cent who felt otherwise.
Likewise, 55.6 per cent of those polled felt the current economic and political climate was conducive to investing in property, while 29.1 per cent did not.
“The majority of people are still confident that the property market will continue to grow... The love affair continues,” Shaun Di Gregario, chief executive of iProperty, told reporters here today.
Interestingly almost an equal number do believe or fear that Malaysia is heading toward or on the cusp of a property bubble.”
At the same time, some 58 per cent of respondents said they were wary of the possibility that Malaysia was close to a property bubble, compared to 23.4 per cent who felt such an event was unlikely.
The survey nonetheless found that 62.3 per cent were keen on buying property in the next six to 12 months, with 71.3 per cent indicating a budget of under RM500,000.
Motivations for purchasing property were fairly evenly divided. About 40 per cent desired to own their own property, 31.3 per cent were looking for rental income investment and 28.2 per cent wished to buy property for resale — more than in any other country canvassed.
The poll found that a “surprising” 41.4 per cent owned two or more properties, second only to neighbouring Indonesia in the four-nation survey.
Di Gregario attributed the findings to Malaysia's low mortgage rates, 100 per cent financing, stamp duty exemptions and long repayment periods of up to 30 years or until age 75.
A sizeable minority of Malaysians were also keen to invest in properties abroad, with Australia, Singapore, the UK and US being the most popular destinations.
Nearly half (45.1 per cent) of them cited migration or retirement plans as the reason for buying overseas properties.
Most, however, were not in a rush to do so, as 71.7 per cent admitted they did not plan to buy any properties outside of Malaysia for at least another one year.
A total of 8,499 respondents were polled from 29 November, 2011 and January 17, 2012 for the survey, which examined buyer sentiment in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
