KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — The increase of house prices in Malaysia in the third quarter this year was among the highest in the world, a Knight Frank study has revealed.
It had risen to the 29th spot by 0.7 per cent from -0.2 per cent last year, when the country was 33rd in the Knight Frank Global House Price Index.
According to the report, Singapore has led the index with prime prices up 13 per cent over the 12-month period, as compared to 3.2 per cent in the same quarter last year.
The jump was mainly driven by the limited availability of prime properties and a strong market outlook in the first half of 2018.
The report also showed that Hong Kong has already slowed to 5.5 per cent as compared to last year by 5.6 per cent, ahead of Singapore by six positions.
Knight Frank’s Asia Pacific Head of Research Nicholas Holt explained that prime residential markets continued to slow in Asia-Pacific in the third quarter this year, with 13 of 17 regional markets seeing growth decelerate on the previous quarter.
“Rising interest rates, cooling measures and worsening prospects for global growth are all contributing factors to this region’s prime market slowdown.
“While pockets of outperformance remain, these growing headwinds are likely to ensure that sentiment in many prime cities residential markets remains muted towards the end of the year,” he said.
The Knight Frank Global House Price Index allows investors and developers to monitor and compare the performance of residential markets around the world.
The index by the independent global property consultancy is compiled on a quarterly basis using official government statistics or central bank data where available.
