KUALA LUMPUR, 27 NOVEMBER 2013 – Some of Malaysia’s leading property developers and industry players shared their thoughts on how 2014 will fare for property at the recently held PropertyGuru Property Developers’ 2014 Outlook Forum.
Among those who participated were, Mr Yeoh Su Guan (Deputy Chairman, REHDA Kedah), Mr CY Ng (Trinity Group), Dato Sri Dr Vincent Teow (Andaman Group), Previndran Singhe, (CEO, Zerin Properties), KK Wong (UM Land) and many others. Also in attendance as guests were several leading property developers who were eager to hear the views of their industry peers.
Notably, the panellists expressed varied and at times, differing views with regards to the property sector in 2014 and the effectiveness of the various policy changes announced by Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak under Budget 2014.Some expressed positive sentiment while others offered a more cautious view for the industry, in particular for certain property segments such as the high-end market and commercial properties.
Many also questioned the potential effectiveness of the said policies in addressing key issues such as affordable housing, rising prices and so on, when taking into account the introduction to RPGT and GST and the removal of DIBS.
Among the key issues discussed were:
• The effectiveness of RPGT in reducing speculative demand and stabilising house prices
• The removal of DIBS and the proposed hike in assessment rates
• The potential drop in foreign buyers and its impact on key areas i.e. Iskandar Malaysia
• The Government’s PR1MA programme
The panellist also shared their views not just on prospects for the Greater KL area, but also other urban centres such as Penang, Ipoh and Iskandar Malaysia.
The forum is the second in a series of outreach initiatives by PropertyGuru after its first session on Budget 2014. It was moderated by Gerard Kho, Country Manager of PropertyGuru.com.my. The goal is to facilitate greater information, opinion sharing and education on issues that matter to Malaysians.
“The response received from the media and industry to such initiatives has been positive. It shows that there is a need for constant engagement and discussion and for an avenue for stakeholders to air their views. We are happy to be playing this role in providing a channel for the betterment of the industry,” shared Steve Melhuish, Group Chief Executive Officer of PropertyGuru Group.
Echoing his views was Kho who also felt that such interactions are necessary to provide a clearer picture of what to expect going forward.
“Budget 2014 provides many answers but also raises many questions for the property sector. Our role is to help bridge that information gap – providing expert insights and credible advice from leading voices so Malaysians may have a better strategy for the year,” shared Kho.
When asked on his personal view, Kho mentioned that properties are likely to still be on an uptrend next year.
“I believe prices are likely to rise. A more stringent RPGT regime would see prices stabilising, but appreciation will come from factors such as construction cost rather than due to speculative activity or properties being flipped upon completion. With regards to GST, while the sale and purchase of properties are not impacted by GST, construction materials are liable for GST and as such, will contribute to rising prices,” added Kho.
From developers, realtors and the man on the street, Budget 2014 has led to varied and diverse opinions. Key policy changes with regard to the property sector are the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a more stringent Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) regime, the raising of the entry price for foreign buyers to RM1 million and the removal of the Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS).
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About PropertyGuru Malaysia
Propertyguru.com.my is the fastest growing property portal in the country with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor. The Malaysian portal currently has over 1.5 million visitors viewing almost 12 million property pages monthly.
PropertyGuru Malaysia reported a 2.5 times growth in revenue in 2012, attributed to a large growth in agent members, real estate developers and bank clients as well as a rise of 132% in website visitors to reach more than 11 million in comparison to the same period at the end of the previous year.
2012 also saw PropertyGuru taking the lead in the mobile space in Malaysia with the triple launches of PropertyGuru Malaysia’s consumer mobile app on Android and iPhone platforms as well as the Agent app on Android. The mobile apps have proved to be highly popular since launching in Q3 2012, with both consumers app receiving more than 220,000 downloads, with over 20% of all PropertyGuru users are now using mobile phone or tablet to visit the website in Malaysia.
About PropertyGuru Group
PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s leading online property portal group used by almost 11 million property buyers, viewing over 89 million property pages and generating over 350,000 enquiries for real estate developer and agent advertisers – every month.
Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 by 2 entrepreneurs with a vision to simplify the property search process and help buyers, sellers and investors make better property decisions faster. Taking advantage of Asia’s growing affluence, property demand and online explosion, it received its first VC investment funding in 2008 and most recently secured approximately $60m investment in 2012 from Deutsche Telekom, South East Asia’s largest digital investment to date. Since its launch, PropertyGuru has reported rapid growth and most recently announced a record 96% increase in revenue, 60% increase in internet users and 50% increase in paying agent advertisers to over 24,000 – in 2012.
The award winning company focuses heavily on innovation. Over the last 2 years, the Company has developed and launched 15 mobile applications in 4 countries and 3 languages which have received over a million downloads – almost 50 per cent of its users in Singapore now originate from a mobile device. PropertyGuru was also the first to integrate website with social media, first to launch Singapore’s only dedicated property newspaper with over 100,000 copies circulated island-wide every month and developing a property events platform with approximately 30 shows held annually across 4 countries addressing 30,000 potential property buyers on the ground.
For more queries or to arrange for an interview, contact:
Adam Rahman
Mobile: (+65) 8112 8817
Email: adam@propertyguru.com.sg