More property buying post-RMCO

July 15, 2020 editor

There’s more interest to purchase properties post-recovery movement control order (RMCO). Buyers are looking for good value homes to purchase their first homes, to upgrade their existing homes or to invest in property.

There are also some buyers who are looking to downsize or move to more convenient locations.

Based on iProperty’s latest consumer survey, in spite of the unprecedented situation caused by Covid-19, property seeking trends among Malaysians remained encouraging.

The survey results reveal that 24 per cent of the respondents who were not looking to buy a property before the MCO are now looking to purchase.

A majority of them are new entrants and this brings to total 45 per cent of respondents who are actively looking for a property post-MCO announcement.

Another 10 per cent of respondents, who are not actively looking for a property post-MCO, are open to the right property deals.

Taking into account this group, the percentage of respondents who are interested to purchase a property after the MCO announcement tops 55 per cent.

However, 92 per cent of those who are actively seeking for a property state that they have a lower readiness to transact – 49 per cent are waiting for prices to drop while 43 per cent are still looking but more cautious about making any financial commitments.

The survey further reveals that 90 per cent of respondents are looking at zero down payment, developer discounts and subsidised legal costs to help ease their transaction decisions, while 81 per cent of respondents are looking for trustworthy and reliable developers/ agents.

The top two factors which influence a property seeker when evaluating an online listing is validation of a property’s valuation (pricing trends for similar properties) and listing content which gives a very clear understanding of the property’s space and layout.

Because of the MCO (now recovery MCO), 89 per cent of property seekers are receptive to the idea of virtual viewings. Out of this, 75 per cent said it would help them decide whether or not to view a property in person while 14 per cent said it is enough for them to decide whether to buy/rent a property.

Source: NST