Malaysian home sales volumes hit 5-year high

Residential property sales in Malaysia have risen to their highest levels for five years according to statistics assembled by the Malaysian National Property Information Centre.

In 2011, transactions for residential properties rose 18.9% year-on-year, with the average transaction value growing to RM61.83 billion, a 22.1% increase in pricing.

Penang saw transactions grow 68.2% while volumes in Johor were up 15.7%. Kuala Lumpur sales grew 14.4% and volumes in Selangor were up 8.5%.

Things were down in Terengganu where sales volumes dropped 0.8% last year and in Sabah where things fell 3.2%. The market in Sarawak dropped 3.5%.

House prices below RM150,000 made up 54 percent of transactions whilst properties priced between RM250,000 and RM500,000 contributed to 16.4% of transactions with properties over RM500, 000 grew from 16,782 to 21,905 between 2010 and 2011.

“This could be attributed to the increase in affordability level and supported by the ease in borrowing as well as attractive loan packages offered by financial institutions,” said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim at the launch of Malaysia’s annual Property Report this week. New developments did well taking 46.3% of all sales in Malaysia last year and, in terms of take-up, Melaka came out on top with 69% of its units going fast. In Pahang the take-up rate was 59.6%, in Kuala Lumpur it was 52.8%, and in Negeri Sembilan it was 51.2%.

“Last year, in terms of construction activities, the higher number of new unit starts and building plan approvals signified the confidence of developers and investors,” said Government Minister Lim.

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