Country Guides Country Guide: Malaysia

Date Published:

18/11/2009

Should you buy in this former British colony?

By Gordon Miller

Kuala Lumpur: Central Business District

Malaysia doesn’t quite have the allure of many of its neighbours, despite having many of the same qualities. Its northern neighbour, Thailand, for example, with which Malaysia shares a land border, grabs an exponential share of Asia’s foreign tourists.

The Malaysian tourist board has set about redressing the balance and extolling the country’s virtues: long sandy beaches on the Sepang Gold Coast – heralded as the longest coastal tourism spot in Asia, covering 22km from Bagan Lalang to Tanjung Sepat and features marinas and theme parks – great food (spicier than Thai), a thriving metropolis in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, and a friendly local population who are only too keen to show off Malaysia to tourists.

The property market is something of a mixed bag. GlobalPropertyGuide.com reports, ‘Creeping political uncertainty is hurting the economy, the stock market and the housing market as well [and] there is a substantial amount of oversupply of mid-price to luxury condominiums, especially in Kuala Lumpur. No immediate nominal price falls are expected, but inflation-adjusted figures will show price falls.’

Lai Voon Ho, executive director of local developer Ireka Corp Bhd, anticipates static property prices in general. He says, ‘Prices in prime locations will hold out relatively well. A rational property buyer with a long-term perspective would believe that Malaysia’s properties are still at an attractive and sustainable [price], as opposed to a lot of the other cities in the world.’

International agents have greater confidence in the local market – they usually do. Steve Worboys, managing director of property investment company Experience International, says, ‘Tourism is thriving in Malaysia at the moment which is having a positive effect on the property market in the country. Government incentives and the benefits of Malaysia being a tax haven are two reasons why the property market is opening up to foreign investors. Analysts have commented on the fact that the Malaysian economy is thought to be able to weather the current economic downturn due to the fact that its economy is not so tightly linked with the US, EU or UK economies.’