Who Can Save the Malaysian Property Market?
The current Malaysian economy has caused much worry among the majority of Malaysians – especially those who aspire to procure homes of their own. Gasp!
Malaysia’s Economy Outlook
The Job Market
In its most recent review on the job markets in Kuala Lumpur, Robert Walters Malaysia reported that while there is an overall increase of jobs of 3% – mainly in the finance, accounting and IT industries due to the nationwide implementation of GST – the annual salary of most professions below managerial positions still remained unchanged despite inflation, the continuous slump of the Ringgit currency, drop in oil price and increasing cost of living. All these would greatly affect the purchasing power of the population when it comes to purchasing properties – all the more to the middle class working as semi-professionals and young professionals who already have little or no assets!
Property Sector
If these are not enough – opportunities are further made dim when banks, in respond to the rise of household debts, have had their policy to disburse loans strengthened by Bank Negara. This is a good move to stop people from borrowing any more money than they are supposed to, but that also mean that they won’t be able procure the means to secure their homes that easily anymore. Even sadder is the fact that it would not stop the prices of properties from soaring – PropertyGuru, in its most recent Malaysia Property Market Sentiment Survey, foretells that prices will still continue to soar in our nation’s already pessimistic property market even for the remainder of 2016.
The implication of this problem? Findings of the National Property Information Centre (Napic) discovered that 18,908 units out of the 81,894 residential and commercial units launched in the first quarter of 2016 worth RM9.4 billion have yet to be bought by suitable buyers. The resulting sharp raise of 15.9% from the value of unsold units in the fourth quarter of last year does not only show an increase of property oversupply, but also a rise in the prices of property despite the excess.
Buy or Rent?
While these issues made it harder for common people to get their own houses or apartments, the essential need for everyone to have a roof over their heads still stands and is a valid worry that people ought to worry for.
Due to that, people are finding it more economical and practical to rent instead of buying homes while waiting for this economic turbulent times to pass – all the more for singles that still have the mobility to share living space with others to further cut spending and focus on more important expenditures such as food. It also helps when everyone is sharing the expenses on utilities and certain household bills that would certainly be more expensive to pay when everyone is living on their own. Safely is also more certain in numbers, as crimes will be more rampant especially in the urban areas.
The Opportunities
For landlords, this is also a great opportunity to open their properties for rental to generate side income and ease the livelihood, as there would be a rise for room rentals due to the people’s inability to afford their own houses or rent whole units with their current spending power. On the other side of the spectrum, it is less likely for properties to be approached by buyers until the economy restabilises – or at least, when housing loans are made more procurable again by the banks. And of course, renting out individual rooms instead of whole units brings in more profit provided that the landlord has the knowledge and means to find more tenants to live in the same building.
ROOMZ for a Win-Win Situation
Roomz Asia (http://roomz.asia), a flatshare/houseshare website platform that bridges the gap between landlords and room tenants, provides the opportunity for property owners/investors to increase their rental income by up to 30% by renting out their rooms instead of the entire unit. Not only that, the benefits of tenants are also taken into consideration as the platform allows matching of individuals to live under the same roof and creates a win-win situation.
While an online platform for room listings is not an uncommon idea in Malaysia, the tools and managerial efficiency that the site could offer are on a whole different level altogether. They are not just here to make room listings simpler, but also more authentic – with stricter requirements for detailed information on the rooms, as well as deployment of staffs that would personally contact the landlords to further ask questions and help them find ways to make their room listings more attractive and accurate.
Through this, potential tenants are more confident when it comes to trusting and selecting listing from Roomz Asia, which in turn raises the credibility and brings in revenue to the landlords. In other means, everyone benefits while having almost nothing to lose. All the more benefits to those who are serious in venturing into the property rental business – the tools and conveniences found in this site would make running multiple room listings and advertisings more manageable, thus making renting property a more viable and practical means of earning passive income by doing away with unnecessary hassles.
“With Roomz, the landlord get to maximize their monthly rental income while the tenant can tap into the vast benefits of renting rooms instead of the entire unit, such as paying less for a bigger house. Come and join in the fun in Roomz Asia – there’s always enough space for everyone,” Trey Chong, the co-founder of Roomz was quoted as saying.
