KAJANG (Sept 23): Decent take-ups of retail and office spaces in the Klang Valley supported the occupancy rate growth of the commercial sector in 1H2019, according to National Property Information Centre (Napic).
The retail sub-sector recorded a stable performance, achieving an overall occupancy rate of 79.7%, increased slightly from 79.3% recorded in 2H2018.
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The higher take-up in Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have lifted Malaysia’s overall occupancy rate.
"Kuala Lumpur and Selangor recorded an encouraging performance, securing more than 83% occupancy rate whereas Johor and Penang managed to secure an average occupancy of 77.7% and 72.3%, respectively," Napic said in a press release today.
On the purpose-built office sector, occupancy was stable at 82.4% in 1H2019, similar to that of 2H2018.
Take-up was quite commendable in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor at 100,430 sq m (1.08 million sq ft) and 82,376 sq m (886,687 sq ft), respectively.
Meanwhile, Johor saw a lower take-up of 13,618 sqm (146,583 sq ft) while Penang recorded a contraction in take-up at 9,006 sqm (96,940 sq ft).
KL and Penang occupancy rates above 80%
Kuala Lumpur and Penang secured more than 80% occupancy rate whilst Selangor and Johor managed to secure 74.6% and 75.9% respectively.
The commercial property sector recorded 12,960 transactions worth RM12.53 billion in 1H2019, up by 20.4% in volume but value declined by 20.8% versus 1H2018.
All states recorded higher market volume except for Putrajaya. The uptrend in major states namely Kuala Lumpur (13.4%), Selangor (37%), Johor (0.1%) and Penang (8.4%) led to the overall increase in the sub-sector.
The shop sub-sector recorded 6,922 transactions worth RM5.8 billion, dominating 53.4% of commercial property transactions and 46.3% of the total value, recording a positive movement of 25.1% in volume and 32.7% in value compared to 1H2018 (5,530 transactions worth RM4.4 billion).
However, the overhang in the shop sub-sector continued to increase, recording a total of 5,760 units with a value of RM4.98 billion, up by 13.9% in volume and 22% in value against the preceding half.
The unsold under construction and not constructed segment, on the other hand, improved with volume declining by 11.9% to 6,370 units and 3.6% to 371 units respectively.
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