KUCHING: Pent up demand for residential properties from previous recessive years has seen residential property prices soaring as high as 20 per cent in certain hot spots like Bintulu and Kuching.
Based on the All House Price Index (AHPI) issued by the Valuation and Property Services Department (NAPiC), the house prices for Sarawak for 2010 had increased 6.9 per cent over 2009.
According to real estate services company, CH William Talhar Wong and Yeo Sdn Bhd (WTWY), for the past decade from 2000 to 2010, the percentage increase in house prices for Sarawak has even surpassed that of the overall average Malaysian house index. The escalating home prices showed the increasing maturity of a younger market.
Property market especially in Bintulu was gaining its momentum with prices of terraced houses in prime locales now almost at par with Kuching at about RM350,000 to RM380,000 per unit.
According to the report, construction has been aggressively taking place in Bintulu this year, with a deeper focus on the housing sector.
Most of the housing developments were concentrated in areas like Jalan Tun Hussein Onn and Jalan Sungai Sibuyu.
Commercial properties like retail malls on the other hand remained stagnant at three for this year, but demand was expected to rise within the next two to three years with Times Square Mall at Jalan Tun Hussein Onn and Commerce Square at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi slated for completion then.
Moving ahead, Kuching which always led the Sarawak market in terms of numbers and pricing continued to do so albeit at a slower rate. Nevertheless, the first half of the year had been interesting for the property segment here.
This was premised on the marked increase in units under construction due to the boost in property launches at the end of last year. The completed developments had also lifted developers’ overall confidence.
Demand for residential properties, in particular Tabuan, 3rd Mile and Jalan Song were consistently sought after. This consequently led to a hike in prices with standard double-storey intermediate terraced houses now commanding prices between RM300,000 to RM400,000.