Commercial property transactions were down in both value and volume last year compared to the previous year.

According to the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) 2015 Property Market Report, a total of 31,776 transactions worth RM26.4bil were recorded in the commercial property segment last year.

This was down by 10.6% in volume and 17.1% in value compared to 2014.

Penang was the only state that held strong despite fallen market activity, having registered an increase of 19% in terms of transaction value, while other major states succumbed to double-digit declines.

Selangor remained in the lead with a 23.5% market share, followed by Johor and the Federal Territory, with a 14.2% and 12.8% share.

As for the shop sub-sector, there were a total of 17,181 transactions worth RM13.31bil in 2015, making up 54.1% of the commercial property transactions.

However, the sub-sector’s volume was reduced by 14.7% and by 11.2% in value, indicating that market activity was on a downtrend.

In Kuala Lumpur, prices of shops showed mixed movements, with increases recorded in established commercial areas served with efficient road linkages.

Two-storey shops in Bangsar’s Lucky Garden fetched more than RM4mil per unit and more than RM6mil in Bangsar Baru, while others were mostly above RM1mil.

Meanwhile in Johor, prices of shops were stable with increases in selected commercial areas served with good infrastructure and road linkages.

Two-storey shops in Johor Baru experienced capital growth of between 2.6% and 15.6%, driven by better accessibility via the Eastern Dispersal Link.

Furthermore, the ground floor shops’ rental segment was largely stable with increases in selected areas.

The rental market for shops remained firm, particularly those located in prime areas such as Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India, which peaked as high as RM25,000 per month.

In addition, eleven shopping complexes’ transaction worth RM922.32mil was recorded during the review period, with two each in Johor and Negri Sembilan, one each in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Sabah, while another four were in Selangor.

Significant transactions, which include 2014 transactions with sales concluded in 2015, were the sale of The Shore in Malacca, Subang Avenue in Subang Jaya and KL Festival City.

The retail sub-sector recorded a slight improvement in occupancy from 81.8% in 2014 to 82.4% in 2015, with a take-up rate amounting to more than 8.39 million sq ft.

Higher take-up spaces were observed in Selangor, with more than 2.15 million sq ft, while Sarawak and Penang each secured more than 1.07 million sq ft.

Apart from Kelantan which recorded negative take-up rate, all other states were positive.

The performance of the three components that form a shopping complex were also commendable – hypermarkets (92.1%), shopping centres (80.8%) and arcades (75.9%).

Shopping centres accounted for 51.3% of the total shopping complexes and 72.1% of the total existing retail space in the country.

As at end-2015, there were 148.86 million sq ft of existing retail space from 932 shopping complexes.

There were a further 64 complexes with 16.25 million sq ft in the incoming supply category and 38 complexes with 11.09 million sq ft in the planned supply segment.

Selangor dominated the existing retail space, while Kuala Lumpur dominated the incoming and planned supply segments.

Source: TheStar.com.my