THE Malaysian property market remained robust despite the rise in the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 3%, the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia said.

Its president N.K. Tong said there will be a tailwind amid the inflationary environment, particularly after the property sector is opening up after three years of pandemic.

“However, I think people recognise real estate is a good way to hedge against inflation. So I think investing in property is still has a positive outlook. 

“We do a survey every six months and the results that came out in February for the end of 2022 showed that most of the developers are more optimistic about the second half of 2023,” he told reporters at Rehda’s Raya open house at Wisma Rehda today.

On subsidised cement prices, Tong said the government’s move to reduce cement prices for developers building affordable housing priced RM300,000 and below is a good initiative to encourage buyers to buy their first house.

He said developers have been actively building affordable housing for close to 50 years with the majority of such housing being built by Rehda members. 

He said the group is of the view that it is high time other related industry players offer initiatives in an effort to make housing more affordable.

“So the mechanism is still to be worked out. Developers want to know how much we can actually save from the discounts given for cement.

“Will it vary depending on whether it’s a strata property, because there’s more concrete and cement involved versus landed property?” he said.

On April 18, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, when announcing the initiative, said the move would benefit the B40 and M40 income groups as it would see a maximum of RM5,000 reduction in house prices depending on the type and the price of the property. – Bernama, May 13, 2023.