Local house prices too high

PROSPECTIVE buyers feel the asking prices for properties are unrealistically high. They are not buying despite the property surplus, waiting for prices to drop to bargain basement levels, according to surveys on Malaysians conducted by iProperty.com, which also carried out separate polls in Singapore and Hong Kong.

In the first poll between Feb 3 and 11, it said 85 per cent of the total 110 Malaysian respondents felt there was a property surplus in the country while the other 15 per cent observed otherwise.
In the second survey from Feb 11 to 16, 39 out of 100 respondents revealed they were "waiting for the market to crash further" before they buy, 27 felt "this is a great time for bargain hunting", 21 would like but "can't afford" to buy, eight were considering it, and five had no plans to buy.

In the third poll between Feb 16 and March 18, almost 60 per cent or 162 respondents out of a total of 275 complained "a lot of sellers are still asking for unrealistic prices".
iProperty.com Group executive chairman Patrick Grove said "it's safe to conclude there is still a lot of demand in Malaysia for properties with many buyers still on the lookout for great bargains".

He also expects the number of transactions to increase when sellers eventually bring down prices in order to sell their properties.

"They will lower asking prices when their properties have been on the market for too long, especially those who need cash. Furthermore, the huge supply coming onto the market will put downward pressure on prices."

Grove said the results of the polls show Singapore and Hong Kong carry similar sentiments.

Meanwhile, iProperty.com Group has beefed up its senior management with the appointments of Dennis Chu, former sales director at Monster.com.hk, as general manager of its Hong Hong operations under the GoHome.com.hk network; and Matt Allanson as regional head of business development. Allanson was national manager of Major Accounts (commercial) at REA Group.