MASPEX Penang expects 15,000 visitors

PENANG (Aug 14): The Malaysian Secondary Property Exhibition Penang 2015 (MASPEX 2015) is expected to draw a crowd of 15,000 visitors to the event from Aug 13 to 16.

President and advisor of the MASPEX 2015 organising committee and Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) president, Erick Kho said there will be over 30 booths and 6,000 property listings worth RM3 billion for prospective buyers to choose from at the exhibition. The event is organised by MIEA.

‘’Although the market is tough, we can see an increase in the volume of property transactions nationwide — 384,000 in 2014 as compared to 381,000 in year 2013. The transaction value has also increased from RM152 billion to RM162 billion with 60% to 65% derived from the secondary market group,” said Kho at the opening of the Penang edition of the exhibition yesterday.

Kayte Teh, the vice-president and advisor of MASPEX 2015 added that the secondary home market takes up 70% of the housing property market share.

“Secondary home market prices are 15% to 20% lower than newly launched properties, and this is where MASPEX comes in,” said Teh at the same event.

Kho added that prices of secondary market housing have been stagnant in the first half of this year due to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and the weakening ringgit. “I believe when the [buyers] confidence is back in the next few months, we will see prices of secondary houses go up by 15% to 20%,” said Kho

Micheal Geh, senior partner to Raine & Horne International Zaki+Partners Sdn Bhd who was also at the event, believed the transacted volume on the Penang secondary market will rise in the second half of the year as prices on the primary market have hit record highs over the past five years.

“People started to look for properties in secondary market because generally it is 15% to 20% priced (below newly launched properties). Moreover, Penang is benefiting from the Penang Integrated Transport Masterplan. I think optimism is in the air,” said Geh. He added that he does not rule out the possibility of a 5% price-drop on primary market property in the near future.

Au Foong Yee, the managing director of The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd and The Edge Property Sdn Bhd present at the exhibition yesterday, was excited about welcoming visitors to theedgeproperty.com’s booth.

“theedgeproperty.com’s booth can provide very useful information to buyers, investors and sellers as we have data and analytics for anyone who is looking for information for any kind of property projects,” said Au.

Au also added that theedgeproperty.com has a list of listed and registered agents to provide the correct kind of information — especially to the general public.

The new one-stop property portal by The Edge Media Group features news, listings and a full range of analytical tools, which include indicative valuations, past transactions, rental rates, trends, hotspots, and new project launches.

Its booth drew many property agents and negotiators who signed up to list their properties and avail themselves of the free and exclusive agent tools on the portal.

Exhibitors included real estate agencies, property services firms and financial institutions such as Malayan Banking Bhd, the event's main sponsor.

Held at Queensbay Mall, MASPEX also featured seminars on secondary property hotspots, Feng Shui, the impact of GST on the property segment and Penang infrastructure projects and their impact on the local property market.

The event was officiated by Penang State Executive Councillor, Chow Kon Yeow.

One of the visitors at MASPEX Penang was retiree S C Chew, 52, who was looking for his fourth investment property. He said he will consider buying another house within this year despite the overall property market slowdown.

“I always go for the secondary market because of the established locations. Although the market is slow, it is also a good time to find a value-buy because there are so many choices in the market,” said Chew.

Khoo & Associates Realty negotiator Dannis Lim said the Penang secondary market had never been slow in the past few years. “There are still many people who want to buy a property despite the high rate of loan rejections. People are constantly searching for good deals,” said Lim.

This article first appeared in property+, a section of the digitaledge Daily, on Aug 14, 2015. Download property+ here.