KUALA LUMPUR (March 15): Property sales in the country rose 16.81% to 5,303 units in the second half of 2021 (2H21), from 4,540 units in the first half of last year, while the number of properties launched during the period dropped 8% to 10,665 units from 11,601 units, said the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda).
The number of units sold compared to those launched translated into a sales performance improvement of 11 percentage points to 50% in 2H21 versus 39% in 1H21.
Residential units made up almost all of the sales with a total of 5,281 units, including 2,213 of two-and three-storey terraced houses, 961 of apartments/condominiums, 804 of serviced apartments and 660 single-storey terraced homes. The remaining 22 units sold are commercial units.
First-time buyers maintained their position as the highest number of purchasers albeit with a drop in percentage (42% in 2H21 versus 47% in 1H21). Forty two per cent of the purchases were made for the purpose of self-dwelling, 36% for family members and 21% for investment.
For properties launched, the majority of these were residential, totalling 10,631 units with most priced between RM250,001 and RM700,000. In terms of house types, two-and three-storey terraced homes proved to be the most popular at 3,165 units mostly located in Seremban, followed by apartments/condominiums and serviced apartments at 2,909 units and 2,363 units respectively.
On the other hand, 67 respondents (54%) reported that they have unsold residential units, with most affected units priced between RM250,001 and RM500,000, and RM500,001 and RM700,000 (39% and 18% respectively).
Meanwhile, 40% of respondents stated they have unsold commercial units, with the majority (79%) of those units priced between RM250,001 and RM2,500,000 each.
For the unsold properties, 64% were reported to be units of over two years. The top reasons for their unsold status are end-financing loan rejection, low demand/interest and unreleased bumiputera units.
The findings were based on the “Rehda Property Industry Survey for 2H2021 and Market Outlook 2022” survey, which was released on Tuesday (March 15). It gathered feedback from up to 124 developers in Peninsula Malaysia.