This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on December 21, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Echoing the sentiment of the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda), Mah Sing Group Bhd said it is positive about the local property sector in the first half of 2018 in tandem with improvements in the country’s economic conditions.

“Average household median income is set to improve in tandem with gross domestic product growth and the slew of measures and incentives proposed in the recent Budget 2018,” said Mah Sing group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum (pic) in a statement yesterday.

“Historically, the improvement in median income has led to an increase in transaction volume. Therefore, affordable homes with good connectivity, especially transit-oriented development and transit adjacent development, will continue to be in demand as it is the healthiest sub-segment in the overall property market,” he added.

He expects the property industry’s mid and near term to be healthy, supported by the growing young population and low unemployment rate.

“Long-term demand will continue to be strong for property buyers who are buying to own or buying for long-term investment,” he said.

On its part, Leong said the property developer will “carefully plan our launches to ensure that every project has its own appeal with an affordable price below RM500,000.”

As at Nov 30, 2017, Mah Sing had a remaining land bank of 2,131 acres (862ha), with gross development value and unbilled sales totalling RM28.3 billion.

“Supported by our healthy balance sheet, we are open to good joint ventures and investment opportunities,” said Leong.

Nevertheless, Mah Sing will continue to be disciplined in financial management to ensure strong balance sheets and liquidity while launching new developments and actively pursuing sales from existing projects.

“We will continue to reinvent affordability by developing quality homes in strategic locations with prices that the rakyat can afford,” he said.