KUCHING, June 25: The National Property Information Centre’s (NAPIC) report for the first quarter of 2022 (Q1’22) shows that the average house prices in Sarawak are not as expensive as last year.
Sarawak homes were priced at an average of RM482,592 in Q1’21, but in the same period this year, the figure has dropped to RM365,712.
Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) Kuching branch chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok said this is an improvement seeing that Sarawak’s rank in Malaysia with the most expensive homes has dipped from third to sixth.
Kuala Lumpur and Selangor remained at the top with an average housing price of RM765,391 and RM518,117, respectively.
Meanwhile, Penang took Sarawak’s place in the third rank, with residences costing RM396,832 each on average. Following behind are Johor, which stands at RM378,355 and Sabah at RM367,888.
Sim also noted that Sarawak experienced an increase of 12.7 per cent in residential transactions in Q1’22 compared to Q1’21.
“Strata properties experienced a surge in demand as there was a 178.6 per cent increase in transactions for townhouses while condominium and apartments had a 31.3 per cent increase from 134 units in Q1’21 to 176 units in Q1’22.
“However, we must note that landed units are limited because of higher land costs in urban or city areas. Higher density for strata properties has made strata units cheaper and more affordable,” he said in a statement today.
To explain Sarawak’s 21.3 per cent decrease in the overall overhang in Q1’22 compared to Q1’21, Sim said it could be due to the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC), which ended on Dec 31, 2021.
He said HOC participating property developers had to give 10 per cent discounts to purchasers while purchasers were incentivised by the stamp duty exemption offered by the government.
He said the demand for houses in Sarawak remains strong at the moment, especially with the RM10,000 grants for first-time home buyers from the Sarawak government and the banks’ supportive end-financing loans.
However, looking forward, with the increase of minimum wages, logistic costs, oil and gas prices, low exchange rate of Malaysian Ringgit (RM), and food supply disruption, he expected an impact on the cost of capital, which may damper the demand for houses in Sarawak. — DayakDaily
