MELAKA (April 23): While the majority of residential launches in Peninsular Malaysia were in the RM200,000 to RM500,000 range in 2H2014, launches recorded in Melaka were mainly in the RM500,001 to RM1 million range, according to The Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia (REHDA) Property Industry Survey 2H2014 released in March.

Only Kuala Lumpur and Selangor's launches were in the RM500,001 to RM1 million range during the period. In 1H2014, Melaka’s most launched price range was from RM200,001 to RM500,000.

According to C H Williams Talhar & Wong (WTW) Sdn Bhd Melaka branch manager Teh Hong Chua, the state’s residential market is still going strong as demand is exceeding supply.

“The approval rates for new projects here are very slow and residential demand is still very high. When developers launch their products, it does get taken up very fast, especially if the products are of good quality, which they are,” said Teh.

Teh explained that developers have been increasing the quality of their products by adding features to suit current needs such as gated housing, adding more rooms into the units and increasing ceiling heights.

Landed houses are still the most popular residential type in Melaka, said Teh

“Landed three-storey terraces are very popular. They used to sell for about RM250,000 and now these units are going for RM350,000.

Units that are gated and guarded would be able to fetch between RM500,001 and RM1 million,” he explained.

JS Valuers Property Consultants (Melaka) Sdn Bhd executive director Tee Ping Lim noted that three-storey terraced houses in a guarded but not gated development can command about RM400,000.

The majority of the buyers for landed houses are locals, said both consultants.

However, in the past six months, Tee noticed that there has been a slowdown in take-up rates, especially for units in the RM500,001 to RM1 million price range. He attributed this to a wait-and-see attitude from buyers in the lead up to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax on April 1.

"Also, for some, their incomes were not able to support their planned purchases," said Tee.

As the stringent lending criteria is a factor, Tee felt that there will be little change in sentiment unless the banks loosen their lending policy.

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