Home prices to increase in 2021?

Will home prices increase this year?

According to a survey of Malaysian consumers by Juwai IQI this month, 48 per cent of respondents are expecting home prices to increase in 2021.

Two out of every five Malaysians or 40 per cent of all respondents are considering buying a home this year, said Juwai IQI co-founder and group chief executive, officer Kashif Ansari.

The survey also revealed that 42 per cent of the respondents do not intend to buy a property this year while 18 per cent are undecided.

More people also believe that home prices will rise in 2021, Kashif said.

“Only 34 per cent think they will go down and those who think home prices will go down a lot are just three per cent. That compares to 12 per cent who believe the opposite, that home prices will climb a lot,” he said.

Kashif believes that those who purchase in 2021 will benefit from price gains.

He said owning a property is a key to building wealth, especially when it is anticipated that there will be rapid growth from now until 2025.

“Those who don’t purchase will miss out on the bull market we expect to come,” he said.

Kashif said that Sabah has the most residents planning to buy a property this year, with 47 per cent of Sabahans saying that they will look at it.

Those in Sarawak are also optimistic with 62 per cent of residents predicting that prices will rise this year, which is 14 percentage points more than the national number.

Only 24 per cent believe that prices will fall this year, Kashif said.

“The most pessimistic state is Penang, where 41 per cent of people think prices will fall this year, compared to 38 per cent who believe prices will climb. Penang also has the largest share of residents who believe prices will remain where they are today, at 22 per cent,” he said.

Surprisingly, those in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor said that they are least likely to purchase a home this year, with only one-third of respondents having plans to buy.

Meanwhile, Kashif said the young population is the most positive about the property market and is more likely to purchase a home this year.

“In general, the youth are more optimistic about home prices than their elders,” he said.

Generation (Gen) Z (aged nine to 24) is the most optimistic generation, with 68 per cent of these young adults believing that prices will rise this year, compared to just 21 per cent who think they will fall.

The most pessimistic generations are also the oldest. Forty-three per cent of the baby boomers and older generations (aged 57 to 74) believe that prices will fall this year. That is slightly more than the 38 per cent of the oldest generations who think prices will rise.

Millennials, also known as Gen Y (aged 24 to 39), are mostly positive. Fifty per cent of them predict that prices will climb in 2021, compared to just 31 per cent who think they will fall.

Gen X (aged 41 to 56) is also more positive than negative, with 47 per cent projecting price increases and 35 per cent projecting falling prices.

Kashif said the findings of the survey also revealed that there are more males than females who are interested in buying a property this year.

“There are also slightly more women uncertain about whether they will purchase a home this year. Nineteen per cent of women are not sure, compared to 17 per cent of men,” he said.

Source: NST