Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): The retail sector is expected to be resilient in 2019, in particular for the beauty and wellness, accessories and niche grocery trade segment, said Savills Malaysia.

Major malls will also see strong sales turnover and footfall, the property consultancy firm said in a statement today.

"We also foresee that the next generation of super-malls, such as The Exchange at TRX and Pavilion Damansara Heights, will rapidly become major retail destinations when they are completed post-2020," said Savills Malaysia's executive chairman Datuk Christopher Boyd.

For office spaces, Greater Kuala Lumpur is expected to become the biggest market in Asean this year.

According to Boyd, with 123 million sq ft occupied currently, Greater KL is getting very close to Hong Kong's 127 million sq ft occupied space. "The additional 20 million sq ft due for completion by 2022 will put us in the lead, and it could happen this year," he said.

KL office rentals however will remain weak, though it will be supported by demand from the IT industry, co-working operators, the finance sector and upgraders, generally.

Boyd added that residential values will continue to slide, but ultimately, Greater KL will recover first, followed by Penang, and then Johor.

"There are about 245,000 new residential units under construction in Greater KL, with about 55,000 units in Penang and 108,000 units in Johor.

"This supply pipeline means that supply of residential units will grow by 10% to 12% in the next couple of years," Boyd said, adding that prices will have to adjust to meet effective demand.

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