Knight Frank Malaysia (Sabah) research executive Welton Chin says the majority of property buyers in Kota Kinabalu in the past two years have been local first-time homebuyers and young families.

While the local property sector continues to be gloomy, LBS Bina Group Bhd’s shares are climbing steadily. They closed at a near two-year high of RM1.59 last Friday.

While prices within the Sentul Masterplan have set new benchmarks for the area, the secondary market is still largely dominated by the low to mid-end segment.

Its focus this year remains on affordable properties, with 6% of its launches below RM500,000 per unit.

Meanwhile, Bank Negara says there is an oversupply of office and retail space. Office space in the Klang Valley recorded a vacancy rate of 20.4% in 2015, compared with the regional average of 6.6% and national level of 16.3%.

Real estate developers have become more creative in luring prospective homebuyers into committing to a purchase, even as property price growth in the country moderates. It is a sign of the times.

<p><span style="line-height: 20.8px;">While the Sentul Masterplan urban renewal continues, the rest of the neighbourhood remains a low to mid-end market, comprising primarily dated apartments and condominiums.</span></p>

AN undersupply of affordable housing, particularly in major urban areas, coupled with an oversupply of office and retail spaces, may lead to deeper imbalances in the property market, says Bank Negara Malaysia in its 2015 annual report, which was released recently. Despite a 35% increase in housing stock since 2005, the gap between the housing stock and the number of households widened from 2.1 million units in 2005 to 2.5 million in 2015. Annual housing completion has declined considerably in the past five years as the number of households continued to grow. There was an estimated average shortage of 85,911 housing units per year between 2011 and 2015.

WCT Holdings Bhd has been awarded a RM133.9 million contract from Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) to redevelop the police quarters in Gombak.

The development of Kuching has helped the largest state in Malaysia earn a key position in the country’s economic growth. Sarawak only trails behind Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in term of gross domestic product.