Results of the Poll ‘Will You Be Buying A Residential Property in 2008?’
Thanks to all the readers and friends that participated in the recent poll which asked the question: ‘Will You Be Buying A Residential Property in 2008?’. The poll has been closed after a week and the results are as follows:
As can be seen, about half of the respondents (49%) voted outright ‘no’, probably due to a variety of reasons. Altogether 3 out of every four respondents (75%) voted on the negative side.
In the past 3 months or so, we’ve seen a sharp drop in the number of new launches in the Klang Valley, especially major condo projects and large development projects. Most of the ones being advertised in the papers these few weeks are basically new phases or re-launches of existing projects. A lot of people are wary of the economic situation for the remainder of the year, especially in the light of the subprime crisis in the US and the spiralling price of oil.
Even locally, the building sector is facing hard times with the rising price of materials such as diesel, premix, steel and cement, just to name a few.
Some of our friends that are trying to rent out their KLCC condos are facing stiff competition as more and more condos are being handed over to purchasers and entering the market.
All in all, we hope the property market will hold out against the tough times.
Government need to abolish the NEP bumi housing discount (of 5%-10%) in order to spur the property sector. Many non-bumi cannot see why they have to subsidize bumis. I have a colleague whose malay boss bought a >RM2 million bungalow in a mixed development Taman, and yet enjoyed 7% discount! That equal RM140K subsidized by poor Chinese and Indians who could only afford a terrace house in that Taman. Go figure!
Comment by analyst — May 28, 2008 @ 11:10 pm
I bought a 1.5 storey terrace house in USJ 2 for 215k in 2005. Now with the same amount you can’t buy anything in the Subang Jaya. Landed property in good location will hedge against inflation and if lucky may enjoy capital appreciation and good rental income. I intend to buy another landed property in the same area from a share investor who got its fingers burnt in the recent voltile market. Cheers!
Comment by Ronnie — May 30, 2008 @ 10:49 am
I agreed that buying landed property is good for hedging against the current inflation. The economy is going to be worsen with the current oil price and food price hike. There could be some additonal people have their hands burnt and need to dispose their hard or easy earned properties .
I am waiting for such happening ! Hope not on someone else pain .
Comment by Viking — May 30, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
By the way, the interest rate is still low. If the govt increases the interest rate, then the cost of borrowing will go up but I suspect that the central bank won’t raise the interest rate as it may attract the hot money coming in from overseas and also add on to the burden of owners’ monthly repayment of housing loan. We should take this opportunity to buy one landed property before it becomes too unaffordable!
Comment by Ronnie — June 2, 2008 @ 2:24 pm