COVID-19 not deterring Hong Kong interest in Malaysian properties

PETALING JAYA: From the political turmoil which resulted in a change in government to the COVID-19 pandemic that has placed the country in partial lockdown coupled with the stock market meltdown — recent developments in Malaysia have been far from favourable.

However, it seems like they have not dampened property buying interest from Hong Kong investors who are looking at Malaysia’s long-term growth potential, said Starcity Global managing director Florence Ten.

No doubt the recent COVID-19 outbreak has impacted her business promoting Malaysian properties in Hong Kong as road shows and investment seminars had to be cancelled.

To keep business running, Ten and her team switched to social media platform postings, videos and live seminars to promote Malaysia as the destination for a second home.

To her surprise, enquiries from Hong Kong have continued to be unrelenting although the number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has been rising by the day.

“There are still enquiries about the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) application process and  familiarisation packages.

“For instance, a live video streaming on the MM2H programme that we had recently received 30 phone calls right after the session ended and 10 of them signed up for the familiarisation package with us,” she told EdgeProp.my in a phone interview.

The familiarisation package offered by Starcity Global is for interested Hongkongers who want to visit Malaysia for one or two weeks to check out local schools, healthcare centres and other amenities, as well as take part in property viewings. The aim is for them to experience life in Malaysia.

In early February, before Malaysia came under the Movement Control Order (MCO) from March 18 to April 14 to curb the spread of the virus, international schools had imposed a restriction on foreigners to self-quarantine for 14 days before visiting the schools. Despite that, the Hongkongers who signed up for the familiarisation package were undeterred as none cancelled their trips.

“They were willing to come to Malaysia and follow the 14-day self-quarantine to have a feel of staying in Malaysia,” said Ten. In fact, she disclosed that in February, her company had closed over 20 property deals for MM2H visa holders.

The World Health Organization had declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. In Malaysia, the confirmed COVID-19 cases have surged beyond 2,000 with at least 23 deaths as of March 26.

One of the measures of the MCO is banning all Malaysians from travelling abroad and for all foreigners from entering Malaysia.

Undeterred, the Starcity Global Hong Kong branch office has remained active by handling customers’ enquiries through online platforms or messaging apps.

Meanwhile, Kith and Kin Realty Sdn Bhd co-founder Freeman Woo concurred that Hongkongers are still very interested in investing in properties in Malaysia, especially for rental income.

According to him, he and his team have concluded 10 such deals in the first two months of the year. The MCO did impact his business though, as the company had to reschedule all appointments that fell within the MCO period.

“We [originally] had over 30 viewing appointments within these two weeks. The majority are Hongkongers and some [other] foreign buyers. Some of them even insisted on continuing the viewing even after we told them about the restriction order,” said Woo.

Malaysia still a safe place to stay

“Hongkongers in Malaysia” social media platform administrator Gary Crestejo said there were not many Hongkongers who fled in panic after the MCO announcement.

Malaysia is still a safe place to stay as long as all necessary precautions are taken, noted Crestejo, who is also the sole franchisee of Hong Kong’s Chee Kee Wonton Noodle in Malaysia.

“Some of them chose to go back to Hong Kong two weeks ago when they saw the number of COVID-19 cases rising in Malaysia, but the majority of them decided to stay as the country has a lower density of people, which means lower risk of getting infected, with proper precautions,” he said.

The necessary prevention measures include wearing a face mask when outside and washing hands with soap or alcohol sanitisers regularly. It is also crucial to stay away from crowded places to avoid infections, something that is hard to do in Hong Kong as it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, noted Crestejo.

According to him, there are at least 2,000 Hong Kong citizens staying in Malaysia under the MM2H programme — a 10-year renewable visa programme for eligible foreigners with the objective to promote Malaysia as an ideal place to stay and invest.

The World Population Review stated that Hong Kong has a population density of 17,311 people per square mile (or 6,659 people per sq km), the second-highest in the world. In comparison, Malaysia’s population density is around 100 people per sq km.

Another reason Hongkongers have chosen to remain in Malaysia during the MCO is the island city has imposed a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine on those who enter the country.

For those who are in the midst of applying for an MM2H visa however, they have no choice but to fly back home.

Meanwhile, Ten from Starcity Global expects the approval of the MM2H visa to be slower as the service counters of the MM2H centre are closed during the MCO, as instructed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, to ensure the staff of MM2H Centre is not exposed to the virus from the high number of foreigners crowding at the counters.

All new applications must be submitted by courier only. For withdrawal and termination of applications, the required documents should be submitted by e-mail at [email protected].

For applications involving payments to the immigration at the MM2H Centre, the applicant must make an appointment with the immigration officer at the MM2H Centre. All endorsements of new applications are suspended, according to a ministry statement.

Nevertheless, the ministry stressed that the temporary closure of all counters at MM2H will not affect this programme as new applications or related processes can be done via alternative procedures.

Stay calm. Stay at home. Keep updated on the latest news at www.EdgeProp.my #stayathome #flattenthecurve

This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my pullout on March 27, 2020. You can access back issues here.