KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — House prices in Malaysia rose in the past year albeit at a slower rate amid the fastest hike of prices worldwide in three years, according to a survey.
According to the Global House Price Index for the fourth quarter of 2016 released by real estate firm Knight Frank, Malaysian house prices are growing slow due to cooling measures by Putrajaya, but remains an attractive choice globally.
“The house price index in Malaysia continues to grow but the pace of growth has slowed down due to the slew of cooling measures introduced by the government to curb speculation in the property sector.
“Malaysia still remains as an attractive investment destination in the region with its stable property market and relative lower entry prices that continue to offer reasonable returns,” said Judy Ong Mei Chen, Knight Frank Malaysia’s executive director of research and consultancy, in a statement.
The index showed that Malaysia ranked 27th out of the 55 countries measured.
House prices in Malaysia have increased in the quarter by 5.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2015. However, they only increased at a rate of 3.3 per cent in the last six months, and 1.1 per cent in the last three kmonths.
This comes as neighbouring Singapore languishes in the bottom ten of the index, due to “ongoing geopolitical crises, economic fragility or cooling measures which are artificially restraining growth”.
Overall, house prices globally rose by six per cent on average, up from 4.1 per cent in 2015, the highest annual rate recorded since the first quarter of 2014.
Iceland leads the rankings for the first time since the index started in 2006, where prices have increased by a whopping 14.7 per cent on average.
“The overall picture is one of stable or rising prices, despite the global landscape of political and economic uncertainty,” Knight Frank said in the index report.
“With higher inflation and diverging monetary policies expected in 2017, we may see a widening gap between the strongest and weakest performing market.”
The index compares the performance of mainstream residential markets around the world, based on official government statistics or central bank data where available.
