Property Development

Property development is the business of converting raw land to finished units such as houses, apartments, hotels, condominiums, shopping centres and many more. In Malaysia, property development is a big industry with many players, most of whom are local. The large local developers consist of SP Setia Bhd, IOI Properties Group Bhd and Sime Darby Property Bhd.

Amongst all the states in Malaysia, property development has been especially active in Johor due to its proximity to Singapore. The reason is that developers have been capitalizing on this good location to sell properties to both foreigners and Singaporeans. A special focus is on property development in the Iskandar Development Region where the project attracting the most interest is the Forest City project by Country Garden Pacificview.

In past decade or so, property development has been a very profitable sector, not only due to the large demand for houses but also due to the special affinity of the Chinese for property. However, in the last few years, this sector has slowed somewhat due to a large overhang of property, high prices for properties and a serious cutback of financing by banks to this sector.

Sarawak Property Bulletin, National Property Information Centre (NAPIC)

Global Property Guide: Malaysia’s house prices continue to rise, albeit at a slower pace

Loan approval rates for property purchases trended lower in 2018