Remember the news about how transactions went down by double digit but the the prices still went up 6.7% in Malaysia in 2013? Actually, Penang’s property market is different. Total transactions dropped 24% versus 2012 which is a huge number. However, the value of the transactions remained the same as 2012. Thus, the average property price in Penang is RM400,565. Don’t worry, you would not find too many of such units. You will find many 700 sf units at around RM250K and Condos in island are typically RM650,000 or higher. Thus, we come to the average price of Rm400,565.
If we look at the primary transactions, this has dropped 62% compared to 2012 which is a huge drop. However, secondary market showed a drop of just 6.4%. This is despite the fact that everyone seemed gloomy and everyone said that Penang was about to suffer a bubble burst, which has yet to happen. In fact, looking at how the amazingly high number of transactions in the primary market in 2011, it meant that the new supply would be coming into the market beginning mid 2014 till mid 2015. Whether the market can absorb these demands would determine how the market would react. Yes, I believe there will be price pressure when everyone tries to sell at the same time. I seriously do not think they would suffer losses but perhaps for those who can’t hold, they will be selling at lower profit that what they envisioned currently.
Oh yeah, Penang rental market is still the same. No market. A friend asked me today, should she buy Penang properties or KL properties. She said her main reason was rental. I told her that until today, Penang does not have a good rental market except for very few units which may have good returns as they were bought much earlier on. Thus, if we are looking at rental, KL is as much better market. Even on a longer term, I think Penang’s property prices will not be increasing like previously anymore. A RM250K condo can triple within just 6 years. These days, I think Rm500psf is a typical average for the condo and this should be the price because while demand is strong but when condos are already at RM500psf, I think it will take some adjustments in mindset before the price can continue to inch up. Just remember, if you want to speculate, the chances to get burnt will always be there. Rental remain my top choice for now.
Thanks to Michael Geh, Senior Partner of Raine & Horne for providing me such a nice chart.
written on 19 May 2014
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