Malaysia an attractive market for property?
For the first time in history, people from China and India will be a colossal economic force largely united by nationality. If you are young and planning to enter the workforce in the next three years, you can expect more people competing for your job. At that time, you would have watched the world population grows to seven billions.
Malaysia, as an under-populated resource-rich country, will become increasingly attractive place for them to look for jobs. The next wave of migrant workers into Puchong and Ampang may well be coming from the same countries as 100 years ago but this time they won’t be miners or rubber tappers. They will be carrying laptops and living in condos.
As its knowledge economy gathers pace, Malaysia will continue to grow at a faster rate than a mere organic 2% and the impact on real estate values is going to be substantial. There is no point grizzling about the terraced house you could have bought in Bangsar when the biggest building there was the Apilektrik.
The opportunities are here and now, and property is still cheap. In the secondary market, bargains abound as there is a tremendous miss-match between buyer and seller. If you want a new three-bedroom bungalow for RM250,000 or a quarter-acre building lot for RM150,000, they are all available within an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur.
You would think that agricultural land would have shot up in value but rural smallholdings can still be bought for RM20,000 to RM25,000 per acre and they will give you a net income of 10% or so if you’re prepared to put in the time to manage them properly.
Malaysia has many other hidden assets, one of which is the ability to complete big development projects in challenging circumstances. The Government has recognised this and organises roadshows to developing countries, encouraging Malaysian professionals and developers to promote their capabilities.
The market out there is massive. Imagine that China is estimated to build 430 billion sq ft in about five million buildings by 2025. For me, these numbers are just too huge to comprehend.
