The overhang situation in the serviced apartment / SOHO sub-segment in Penang saw marked improvement last year, with only 69 overhang units worth RM91.31 million recorded in 2019 compared with 141 units worth RM119.61 million in 2019.

Certain states that saw significant new supply have caused high-end serviced apartment owners to cut asking prices.

The state’s primary residential market also saw the launch of 9,711 units, up by 4.5% as compared to 9,294 units recorded in 2018.

In terms of property type, semidee factories formed the bulk of the overhang, followed by terraced factories.

Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) CEO Yap Lip Seng: 15% of hotels in the country are expected to close permanently while another 35% will close temporarily indicating an immediate reduction of up to 50% in inventory. 

"Our business has already been under tremendous challenge from digital disruption over the past few years."

JPPH: Completions of new serviced apartment/SOHO units have increased substantially by 63.2% to 17,893 units (2018: 10,963 units) in 2019.

Selangor recorded the highest number of new launches in the country last year, capturing nearly 17% (9,970 units) of the total launches nationwide.

JPPH: The market saw a higher number of transactions in the RM500,000 to RM1 million price bracket. Condominium and apartment units continued to propel the residential market, contributing 47% of total transactions in KL.

JPPH noted that the property market's performance last year was boosted by various incentives by the government