Growth of the property market in Penang is expected to remain flat this year in view of the unpredictable economic outlook and the market’s wait-and-see attitude, according to an international real estate consulting firm.

Henry Butcher Malaysia (Seberang Perai) Sdn Bhd associate director Fook Tone Huat said the United States (US)-China trade war, the property overhang issue and difficulty in getting bank loans were some of the possible factors affecting the property market’s performance.

“On a positive note, the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC), which is a collaborative effort between the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association, might boost the residential property market’s performance to a certain extent,” he told reporters at the launch of Henry Butcher’s Seberang Perai 2018/2019 property market report here today.

The HOC aims to resolve the high number of unsold homes in Malaysia by offering incentives such as price discounts and stamp duty exemption on the instrument of transfer and loan agreement for houses priced between RM300,001 and RM1 million for first-time house buyers.

“However, with the state’s property overhang issue in the limelight, I think it is unlikely for the property market to recover this year.

“If the economy can perform well with no global issues such as the US-China trade war, I believe that there could be a possible recovery next year,” he added.

According to Henry Butcher Malaysia’s Seberang Perai 2018/2019 property market report, the market performance in Penang was mixed in the first half of 2018, with total volume and total value of transactions increased on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, despite the overall soft market sentiment.

A total of 8,292 transactions worth RM4.29 billion of property developments was recorded in the state in that period — a 5.19 per cent y-o-y increase in volume and 5.45 per cent y-o-y rise in value.

The report said total transactions in several property development sub-sectors in Seberang Perai had increased y-o-y, including residential (0.74 per cent) and industrial (5.15 per cent), whereas commercial property developments declined by almost 11 per cent.

Source: Bernama