Despite market softening, the secondary housing market still offers the best value in terms of price and value.

Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) past president and chief trainer K. Soma Sundram said the secondary market would continue to move the real estate business this year.

“Many don’t realise this. It is the secondary market transactions that move the real estate business, making up to about 80 per cent of the real estate transactions in the country.

“New projects account for between 20 and 25 per cent. It is the secondary market that drove the market last year,” said Soma Sundram.

Providing an overview of the current condition, Soma Sundram said the property market was still finding its direction and it was a matter of supply and demand.

“I see there is more supply than demand, and the demand is based on factors such as income level, financing and so forth.

“Prices have gone up and its good that the market is going through this period.

“It is now finding the balan-
ce where it should go from here on,” he said, adding that in the long run,
it would help the market correct itself.

Touching on the activities of illegal real estate agents in the country, MIEA deputy president Eric Lim said apart from a wider awareness, there must also be a stronger regulations and enforcement to curb the activities of these agents.

“Bulk of the real estate agents registered under the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia (BOVAEA) are concentrated in clusters in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor.

“In other states, since the activities are rather scarce, these agents thrive on unregistered transactions,” he said, highlighting that East Malaysian states were among the highest.

Lim, who is also the BOVAEA’s
Estate Agency Practice Committee (EAPC) chairman, said for the past three years, the firm has been educating the public and creating awareness on the dangers of transacting with illegal agents, in mediums such as print and electronic media.

“We try and educate the public not to respond to illegal signboards on the streets, not to deal with them as they are not registered.

“If at any moment the deal goes wrong, victims would not be able to recover their losses,” he said, adding that EAPC is working with the relevant government agencies to trace and bring the illegal real estate brokers to justice.

Read Source: New Straits Times Online