KUCHING: There has been no dramatic property price spike in the state, according to the Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda).
Sheda secretary-general Sim Kiang Chiok told The Borneo Post on Wednesday that it is unfair to assume Sarawak’s property prices have skyrocketed as alleged by certain quarters.
“It is not true and unfair to assume that the prices for property market in the state have spiked dramatically. There is actually no issue in terms of the prices of the properties in the state. Sarawak has never had a problem in terms of affordability as a result of a spike in the prices of properties suffered by places such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
“Based on the report by the National Property Information Centre (Napic), Sarawak’s property prices had increased by 60 to 65 per cent over the past 10 years which means we are only experiencing an average increase of between 6 and 6.5 per cent each year and this is reasonable, in line with the increasing population
and high demand for property,” he said.
Sim was commenting on a recent online news portal report that in key urban markets such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang, prices have spiked dramatically giving rise to much discontent, especially among the younger generation who say they have been priced out of the market because incomes have not kept to the same pace.
“The government under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is trying its very best to ensure that the people, especially the younger generation or first-time housebuyers are able to buy houses through a few programmes launched such as Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) and Malaysia My First Home Scheme,” he pointed out.
Other positive moves by the government to assist the younger generation to buy new houses, he said, include opening up more land with basic necessities such as infrastructure and roads.
“Therefore, the question of affordability does not appear. The issue here is whether the housebuyers are willing to shop hard enough to get the best deal for their property.
“The pricing for houses in Kuching for example, if the housebuyers want houses with good amenities and good locations in the centre of the city, of course they will have to pay higher prices because the properties are in high demand,” Sim stressed.
He said Sheda would like to advise the people, especially younger buyers, not to be easily influenced by certain quarters politicising affordability. Sim added that housebuyers could get houses at very good prices in areas such as Jalan Matang, Mile 6 onwards, Mile 12 onwards, Kuching-Serian Road, Kota Samarahan, towards Semariang and from Batu Kawah towards Bau.
“In actual fact, this is the best time for local housebuyers to purchase houses due to the low interest rates offered by the banks and also before the imposition of minimum wages, which could result in the increase of property prices as a result of increasing construction costs,” he said.