MALAYSIA: PROPERTY MARKET TO PERFORM BETTER THIS YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 (Bernama) -- The property market this year will
definitely perform better than in 2009 due to an improvement in the general
economy, Deputy Finance Minister Dr Awang Adek Hussin said Tuesady.

As to whether, normalisation of the overnight policy rate (OPR) by Bank
Negara Malaysia (central bank of Malaysia) would affect it, he said: "Bank
Negara may normalise the rate,
but I think, not to the extent of impacting adversely the property market".

He was speaking to reporters after officiating the fifth International
Real
Estate Research Symposium (IRERS 2010) organised by the National Institute of
Valuation (INSPEN), here Tuesday.

Also present at the event were Abdullah Thalith Md. Thani, the
Director General of the Valuation and Property Services Department and INSPEN
Director Faridah Mohammed.

INSPEN is the training and research institute of the Valuation and Property
Services Department, Ministry of Finance.

In his keynote address, Awang Adek pointed out a marginal drop of
0.7 per cent of the total volume of transactions last year, while the total
value reduced at a higher rate of 8.3 per cent.

Themed, "Surviving the Economic Crisis: Opportunities and Challenges in Real
Estate", IRERS 2010 is a real estate research forum held in collaboration with
several international universities and property organisations.

Awang Adek said a strong banking system will also help boost the property
market, especially the residential segment, while stimulus spending supports
the non-residential sub-sector.

On the construction side, Awang Adek said there would be ample office space
in the market for the next couple of years, as indicated by the available space
of 11.8 million sq m in the country.

On the RM67 billion stimulus package, he said spending for the
first package, was virtually completed and for the second, it was well underway.

Meawnhile, commenting further on the property market's performance, Abdullah
Thalith said it was the right time for BNM to increase the OPR to curb
speculation elements.

-- BERNAMA



Delete & Prev | Delete & Next