Developers will release more residential properties in the second half of this year (2H 2023), as the domestic economy recovers from the pandemic, business prospects improve, and market mood improves.

According to the REHDA Property Industry Study 2H 2022, more respondents are optimistic about the market in 2023.

The study, which comprised 136 REHDA members, was designed to look at market performance in the second half of 2022 as well as the outlook for 2023.

According to the poll, 63 per cent of respondents plan to initiate property projects in the first half of 2023, with 7,650 landed units, 8,266 strata flats, and 435 commercial units.

The majority of the states plan to launch units priced between RM250,001 and RM500,000, with the exception of Johor, which plans to offer residences priced between RM700,001 and RM1 million.

Yet, 85 per cent of these respondents predict their sales performance to be 50 per cent or lower in the first half of 2023.

According to Datuk NK Tong, president of the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) Malaysia, developers anticipate an increase in property sales in the second half of 2023 as a result of improved consumer purchasing power and residential sector expansion.

"The wait-and-see attitude persists. Developers want to know what's going on in the market and how the government is performing. Nonetheless, they are generally more hopeful and expect to launch more units in 2H 2023," he said during a media briefing held on Feb 22.

Tong said that based on feedback from the respondents, the main techniques for growing sales in the first half of 2023 include strong involvement in digital marketing and virtual technologies, support with the initial 10 per cent downpayment, and special incentives (purchase of second property from the same developer, referral rebates)

According to the survey, 37 per cent of respondents have no plans to launch property projects in the first half of 2023, citing unfavourable market conditions, business constraints, a lack of suitable products/land bank locations, a lack of buyer demand in the project location, and a large number of unsold stocks as the main reasons.

"Dealings with the state government agencies and local authorities are still riddled with complications, such as when it comes to compliance costs. We hope that the Ministry of Local Government Development will look into these matters to ensure that the industry remains healthy for all players," he said.

Meanwhile, Tong said that Rehda is certain that the property industry would grow under the Unity Government, whose proactive approach has helped solve critical issues like labour shortages.

He said that the association hopes that the government would remain cognizant of various industry problems, particularly those connected to rakyat homeownership.