Malaysian property market has “room to grow”

Speaking to SunBiz, Kenny Tan, who is ERA Realty Network Pte Lrd group division director, said that the country’s market was exciting with “a lot of potential and resources”.

“Malaysia can become a really solid country with its hardworking people,” he added.

Indeed, the market is positioned to benefit the most from rising property prices in Singapore, he continued, with buyers priced out of Singapore happy to consider its neighbour, which is close in culture as well as location.

“A lot of Singaporeans buy their second home or investment properties here,” he noted. “There is a lot of interest here, especially in Iskandar Malaysia (Johor). There is a lot of interest from Singaporeans, but we always advise them to do research prior to investing.”

Singapore’s market has recently been subject to a round of corrections as officials attempt to avoid a housing bubble. Kuala Lumpur, meanwhile, has seen property prices rise steadily for the last nine years.  There is still demand from Chinese investors for Singaporean real estate, but the market’s cooling measures are encouraging a strong influx of interest from South Korea and Japan in Malaysia.

The country’s property market is also seeing a boost from a rise in online house hunting.

“Technology provides convenience and productivity, one can search for properties online at any time and anywhere. This is already happening in Singapore and we foresee that happening in Kuala Lumpur over the next two to three years,” added Tan.

"There is an evident trend that Malaysia is moving towards that direction with the various online forums and property portals.”