"The property market this year will perform better than in 2009 due to an improvement in the general economy, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin said today.
As to whether, normalisation of the overnight policy rate (OPR) by Bank Negara Malaysia would affect it, he said: “Bank Negara may normalise the rate, but I think, not to the extent of impacting adversely the property market”.
Awang Adek pointed out a marginal drop of 0.7 per cent of the total volume of transactions last year, while the total value reduced at a higher rate of 8.3 per cent.
He said a strong banking system will also help boost the property market, especially the residential segment, while stimulus spending supports the non-residential sub-sector.
On the construction side, Awang Adek said there would be ample office space in the market for the next couple of years, as indicated by the available space of 11.8 million-sq-m in the country.
On the RM67 billion stimulus package, he said spending for the first package, was virtually completed and for the second, it was well underway.
Meanwhile, commenting further on the property market’s performance, Abdullah Thalith of INSPENS said it was the right time for BNM to increase the OPR to curb speculation elements.
