Property mart confidence at highest since May '08

KUALA LUMPUR: Confidence in the Malaysian property market has been at the highest level since May 2008, with property developers feeling increasingly positive about the outlook of the broader economy, said property website Thinkproperty.my.

In a statement yesterday, Thinkproperty.my said its property index in August 2009 rose sharply again from 41% at the beginning of the month to 59% at the end.

The index has remained in positive territory since May 22, 2009, after nearly 11 months in the negative.

"We are working with most of Malaysia's top property developers and finding that they are increasingly feeling positive about the outlook for the broader economy, with reports of sales and enquiries on the rise," said Thinkproperty.my head of marketing Eddie Chen.

"Many developers I have been speaking to have been surprised by the surge in customers in the last two months or so. That tallies with email enquiries through our website which have also increased significantly in the last two months. Confidence can be contagious, so let's hope that it continues to spread."

Thinkproperty.my chief executive officer Asim Qureshi said fixed deposits continued their decline in popularity, falling over the course of August, from 9% to 7%, the lowest level since Thinkproperty.my's survey began in May 2008.

He said equities came back into favour with a rise from 22% to 29%, while property remained the most favoured investment, with 64% preferring property over the other two investment classes, a gentle fall of four percentage points over the previous month.

"The KLCI rose 8.5% from the beginning of July 2009 to the end of August 2009, and that explains the recent increased popularity of shares versus the other two asset classes.

"We will start seeing some of that money trickle through to the property market over the next few months and that could gently fuel some increases in real estate prices," he said.