With the property market picking up from a low base in 2017, Reapfield Properties Sdn Bhd Group COO Jonathan Lee believes that now is the best time to look for a property to invest in, reported The Sun Daily.

“Everybody’s looking for bargains. This is the best time to look. We’ve had the lowest transaction volume since 2012 last year. When you come to that point, what’s going to happen is probably up,” said Lee.

“Based on new policies, systems and restructuring (by the new government), we’ll have a good reset of the entire systemic approach. This is the right time to be investing.”

“Property is an inelastic product. You cannot build or cut down a lot of things in a short time. Because of the inelasticity, you will see some effect in certain places but it will not be a major impact to the ecosystem. It will change the way developers plan but we don’t see that as a major impact in the short run.”

He revealed that the sector is full of anticipation on how policymakers will shape Malaysia’s new housing policy to dictate the property market’s direction.

“There is a feel-good factor in the market now where people are more willing to look at the market for their own stay or for investment”.

He explained that one of the market’s challenges is “noises”, in which home buyers or investors are confused on what is good value.

“A decade ago, Cheras was A price, KLCC was B price and Mont Kiara was C price. There was a fixation of value in certain locations but, today, that has ran a lot, so a property in Cheras, Mont Kiara or Bangsar South could be selling at RM800 psf also. Where is the true value?”

Lee said real-time data is important for the market given that valuation is based on transactions.
“If there is more streamlined approach to valuation, where transaction data is real time, then you will see better trends, supply and demand.”

Unlike in Singapore and Hong Kong, where one can retrieve real-time transaction data from local agencies, Malaysia is delayed in sharing data.

“With data based on transaction volume, price movement, indexes, this will help home buyers, developers, owners, investors to be aligned so you will have more relevant and accurate development and we know what is a good value. A lot of perception is running in the market now. If there’s a systemic way to have cleaner, real-time data, it will be more helpful.”

 Despite this, Lee pointed that home ownership within Malaysia is safe due to a solid system, in which the laws governing it are codified and well prescribed.