Expert: Property prices yet to reach rock bottom

Chartered surveyor Ernest Cheong foresees further drops in the next two to three years.

KUALA LUMPUR: A property expert has rejected the view that property prices in Malaysia have bottomed out.

Speaking to FMT, chartered surveyor Ernest Chong said he foresaw prices dropping for another two to three years.

He was responding to comments made recently by Sarkunan Subramaniam, the managing director of property consultancy firm Knight Frank.

Subramaniam said in a press interview that the property market had now “seriously bottomed out” and that the market was expected to recover by the end of the year.

But Cheong said property prices could drop more deeply than they did during the 1997/1998 Asian Financial Crisis.

“The cost of living then was still manageable,” he said. “People weren’t struggling as much as they’re doing now and could even afford to save money. It was the banks that were struggling.

He noted that during that financial crisis, residential property values dropped by 36% while commercial property values dropped by 43.9%.

He acknowledged that this was more than the 25% to 30% drop in prices of some properties in today’s market. However, he added: “I believe the percentage prices of properties will drop to levels which are even lower than during the Asian Financial Crisis due to the reduction in consumers’ purchasing power, stagnant salaries, the current economic climate, the goods and services tax and, of course, the oversupply of properties.”

He said he couldn’t say for sure when prices would finally bottom out, but expected them to go lower than the 1997/1998 levels by the middle of 2018.

He said speculators who bought properties between 2010 to 2014 were likely to be the hardest hit.

“So if you are looking for a home, I would say wait till next year. But be sure to evaluate your financial capabilities. If you can afford a loan, then it might be a good time to buy a home.

“But if you’re in no hurry, it would be better to wait till 2019 or 2020. By then, if prices haven’t bottomed out, they would have reached very low levels.” -FMT