Datuk Rick Cheng Wooi SeongKUALA LUMPUR (Oct 26): The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda)’s Kedah and Perlis chairman Datuk Rick Cheng Wooi Seong believes “the worst is over” for the property market in second-tier areas in Malaysia.  

“If you ask me how is the property market in second-tier areas, such as Kedah and Perlis is doing, I would say the worst is over, and we may see (a) slight improvement next year,” said Cheng during TheEdgeProperty.com’s Roundtable on Budget 2017 on Monday.  

He explained that the smaller towns were not as impacted by the current property market slowdown or issues such as the mismatch between demand and supply or escalating housing prices compared with first-tier areas such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor. This is mainly because there is minimal speculative buying among property buyers in second-tier areas in the country.

“Of course we still feel the impact of the overall market slowdown, but I think we could see some improvements in terms of transaction volume next year,” Cheng said.

Moderated by TheEdgeProperty.com managing director and editor-in-chief Au Foong Yee, the roundtable invited six panellists to discuss the impact of Budget 2017 on the property sector, the cost of doing business and the outlook of the sector.

Other panellists were Rehda Malaysia deputy president Datuk Soam Heng Choon, Master Builders Association Malaysia president Foo Chek Lee, Rehda Johor chairman Datuk Steve Chong, Rehda Selangor chairman Zulkifly Garib and Rehda deputy secretary general Tan Ching Meng. 

For a detailed report on the roundtable, read the Oct 28, 2016 issue of TheEdgeProperty.com pullout. It is available free for download here.

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