By FARA AISYAH / Pic By AFIF ABD HALIM

The property market is envisioned to slowly improve in the second half of 2018 (2H18), following a “gentle recovery” after the historic conclusion of the recent general election.

Knight Frank Malaysia Sdn Bhd MD Sarkunan Subramaniam said improvement in the market could also be expected based on the strong growth momentum of the economy, which would also see enquiries and investment activities in 2H18 and 2019.

He said foreign investors are also expected to come back in the first quarter of 2019 on the back of more transparent policies with the new government.

“Rents of high-end condominiums will stabilise and prices will hold. As for the office market, rents will remain competitive due to oversupply in certain locations, with the exception of Penang, which has a robust office market with limited existing and incoming supplies.

“The industrial and logistics sector is primed for growth into 2019 as Malaysia continues to draw healthy levels of investment in the manufacturing and services sectors,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Knight Frank is also of the opinion that active participation of key industrial and logistics players, both local and foreign, bodes well for the local industrial property market, in tandem with Malaysia’s need for better quality warehouses and state-of-the-art factories.

The property consultant said the demand for larger Class-A warehouse facilities is also expected to increase in anticipation of the current government continuing with the e-commerce initiative.

Automation is also expected to play a major role in these sophisticated warehouses, as the country moves to embrace the Industry 4.0.

It added that the Kuala Lumpur fringe office market was resilient in 1H18 with both rental and occupancy levels holding firm despite the oversupply of space in certain locations in the Klang Valley.

Meanwhile, Knight Frank said the office sector in Penang, which registered slight improvements in both occupancy and rental levels in 1H18, is expected to remain resilient with no immediate incoming supply.

Developers in Johor Baru are actively seeking for opportunities to replenish their landbank in anticipation of a recovery in the medium term.

In the meantime, developers would continue to focus on demand for mass housing and landed residential products due to weaknesses in the high-rise residential segment.

On the other hand, the overall residential property market in Kota Kinabalu is set to improve into the remaining of 2018.

The sub-sale market for high-rise residential sector in the state has also been notice-ably more active since 2017, particularly for products that fall within the mid-range segment and are situated in sought-after locations.