Unsold primary residential properties? RM8.27 billion worth……(HUGE)

It’s not good news when there are a lot of unsold properties in the market. If we placed a downpayment for a new condominium and found out 9 months later that only 20 percent of the whole project is sold, how would we feel? Worried, right? Well, on a larger scale, it’s not 80 percent unsold lah. However, the total overhang units in value is up by 80 percent. In Q3 2015,it was just RM4.6 billion. It is now RM8.27 billion as at Q3 2016.  Full article in theedgeproperty.  In terms of actual number of units of overhang properties, it is up from 9,747 units in Q3 2015 to 14,193 units in Q3 2016. This is up by 46 percent. When we look at the average price based on the total value versus the total number of units, it used to be RM472k on average in Q3 2015 and now, in Q3 2016 it is RM583k.  This meant that the more expensive units are the ones remaining unsold OR the units being launched are all the more expensive ones which does not make sense.
Other things reported in the article include. The highest number of overhang units would be condos and apartments at 1,238 units. I think this is FOR SURE, right. Flats are 283 units, terraced homes at 218 units, cluster homes at 129 units, semi-detached homes at 118 units, detached homes at 68 units and townhouses at 15 units. (Either few townhouses or people love them?)  It was also shared that only properties in the price range of RM200,001 to RM250,000 saw an increase in sales by a huge margin which meant that the demand for these are strong. In fact, within the secondary market, homes below RM300,000 is about 69.6% of the total market. Secondary market properties make up about 82% of the total property market. (This is why when we think of buying a home, it need not be from new launches)  
PEPS president Foo Gee Jen said that the Malaysian property market is currently stable, with a 5.3% annual price rise in the Malaysian Housing Price Index in 3Q2016 (preliminary figure). He said,  “People are always asking when the market will recover, but in actual fact the property market is actually stable. Of course, it is not like those times when there were double-digit growth but I feel that this is a more sustainable growth. Prices of homes are holding. The growth needs to be in tandem with the growth in salaries of the population as well. If it keeps growing at double digits, how can people afford to buy houses when their salaries do not increase at the same rate?”
Please do not simply buy anything which is unaffordable based on our pay. Banks will not approve our loans anyway but what if they approved? Then, we will be suffering from paying like crazy every month for it. What’s my take for 2017? Same lah, don’t worry too much about buying high-rise. It’s true that the number of these being launched is huge but how many of us can afford landed properties unless we buy much further away. That’s another story altogether actually because it involves lifestyle too. Happy looking at the market. Just remember, waiting is a game best played when we own something. 
written on 27 Feb 2017
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