A total of 24,738 completed residential units were left unsold, which was recorded as the highest ever so far.<\/p>\n
The Valuation and Property Services Department said there was a 67.2% year-on-year increase last year (y-o-y) compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the value of these overhang units had increased to 82.8% y-o-y to RM15.64billion last year.<\/p>\n
Overhang units are defined as unsold units completed units that have been in the market for more than nine months after its launch.<\/p>\n
According to the Edge Financial Daily, the department has launched the Unsold Property Enquiry System Malaysia (UPESM) digital platform to provide information on unsold units\u2019 locations.<\/p>\n
Its director-general Nordin Daharom said the system allows property developers and the government to leverage on the information provided in order to make informed decisions on future projects or policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsers can use the search function on UPESM and find out the number of unsold units by state, local council and type of property,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the overall Malaysian property sector saw a fall in the number and value of property transactions in 2017 \u2013 the number of transactions dips to 2.7% (311,824) compared to 3.8% which totaled to RM139.84billion last year.<\/p>\n
The Edge Financial Daily report also revealed residential properties accounted for 62.4% of the market at the end of last year. Nordin said demand was largely focused on properties costing RM200,000 and below, which accounted for approximately 45% of residential market volume.<\/p>\n
House prices had continued to hike up, with the Malaysian House Price Index up 6.5% y-o-y to 187.4 points. The numbers were led by Selangor and Kuala Lumpur where prices went up by 7.6% and 7.3% respectively.<\/p>\n
However, he noted the property sector was starting to see a recovery as new developer launches increased by 47% y-o-y to 77,570 units while 32.6% of the units were sold.<\/p>\n
Kuala Lumpur saw the most launches with 22,000 units, followed by Selangor (13,522 units) and Johor (7,926 units). These launches mostly comprised of two or three-storey terrace houses priced between RM500,000 and RM1 million.<\/p>\n