Bird’s Eye View – Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia

Malaysia’s Property Market Holds Promise for Foreigners

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is not only seen as the world’s third top haven for retirees, but also a promising emerging property market among foreign investors.

According to US-based National Association Realtors (NAR) official Pili Meyer the country has a very healthy and positive real estate market.

“After listening to the keynote address and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) presented by [Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department] Datuk Seri Idris Jala, it is hard to be anything but extremely amazed at the development in Malaysia’s real estate market,” she told The Edge Financial Daily at the sidelines of the Malaysian Annual Real Estate Convention 2013 last Thursday.

Meyer has served as the NAR president’s liaison to the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) since 2010 and she is now in her third year of dealing with the Malaysian property market. She is of the view that further developments in the mass rapid transport (MRT) system will further improve the Malaysian real estate market. “I think there are a lot of advantages to this because if the public transport system improves, then people would certainly use public transport to commute to work in KL. This would increase the price of property where the MRT stations are located,” she said.

Malaysia’s third placing after Panama and Ecuador on travel web-magazine Internationalliving.com’s list of “World’s Top Retirement Havens in 2013” has also helped foreign investors to purchase Malaysian properties. American real estate investor, James Hackett, said international real estate investors are considering Malaysia as a highly lucrative option because of its strong economy and sustainable growth and yields over the medium to long term.

Hackett, who also attended the Malaysian Annual Real Estate Convention, has been investing in properties in Southeast Asia since 2005 as he sees it as a viable and attractive emerging market. He is of the view that the number of foreign investments coming into Malaysia will continue to increase while the Malaysian property sector is set to grow to unprecedented levels. “With the economic indications revealing that Malaysia can only continue to grow at a steady pace, investors are investing in properties now,” he added.

Malaysia expects to attract at least RM37.2 billion of foreign direct investments in 2013, based on figures revealed by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed last week. In 2012, private sector investments grew 24.8% to RM139.5 billion, exceeding the ministry’s investment target by over 9%. According to Tourism Malaysia, from 2002 till end of last year, the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme attracted 19,488 participants from 120 countries. Most of the participants were from China, Bangladesh, Japan, Britain and Iran.

MM2H, the aim of which is to get foreigners to retire in Malaysia, has also spurred the property market as 1,659 properties worth RM1.5 billion were purchased under the programme from 2007 to 2012.