KUALA LUMPUR: More real estate developers recorded better sales in the second half of last year but over 60 per cent of the properties sold in that period were old stock, the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) said today, a sign that the real estate market has yet to rein in excess supply.
New residential units launched in the July to December period dropped 23 per cent from a three-year peak of 14,392 launched in the first half of 2023, while over 60 per cent of the 152 member-respondents said they do not plan to launch new properties this year, Rehda’s latest survey findings showed.
The findings suggest developers could focus more on clearing old unsold units before building more.
The top reason cited for the glut of unsold units was a high rate of loan rejections, the lobby group said.
Developers sold a total of 12,017 residential units in the period, up from 11,273. Only 39 per cent of those sold, or 4,627 units, were new launches, the survey showed.
Landed homes and apartments still topped the list of the most sought-after property. Over 1,600 of newly launched double- to triple-storey terrace houses were sold within the period and 1,545 from old stock. There were over 2,700 new launches in this segment between July and December.
For apartments, up to 2,200 units sold were old stock, while 1,655 were new launches. The apartment segment led the number of new launches at 4,426 units.
The number of newly launched serviced residences came in second, at just under 3,000 units. Developers were able to clear a significant number of unsold units in the second half of last year, with a total of 2,614 units sold in that period.
Up to 47 per cent of new launches were properties between the RM300,000 and half-a-million-ringgit category, which is still considered above the affordable range.
Only 10 per cent of new residential launches were in the affordable category of between RM150,000 and RM300,000, which has the highest demand, according to various property reports in the past.
