RPC

In most countries, real estate represents a significant portion of people’s wealth, an average person has at least one-third of his or her net worth tied up in real estate. The size and scale of the real estate market make an attractive and lucrative sector for many investors. Sky rocketing property prices remain a very common topic among fellow Malaysians for the past few years. But right now, times are bad, will property prices starts to fall or remain stagnant?

Often when people tell me about new project launches in Cyberjaya, my replied is always skeptical particularly on Cyberjaya property…. “it’s so far away, it’s very quiet and there’s nothing much in that area etc” Until recently, I visited a friend of mine (residing in Cyberjaya) whom changed my mind and view on Cyberjaya. Pay a visit there someday and trust me you will love it too, more of a relax lifestyle living compared to hectic city life.

Many people fall in love with the idea of owning a holiday home/ apartment due to lifestyle purposes and neglected on the important fundamentals of investment. Hence if you plan to invest into a holiday property in the future, make sure you are purchasing with your head and not just your heart. Before you would jump into any investment, ask yourself two simple questions: Why am I buying real estate in the first place?

“Times are bad”, “Now is not the right time to invest”, “Property market is slowing down”, I believed these are the common topic among your peers recently, so am I. The housing price index has fallen to 4.10% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015, from 7% in the fourth quarter (Q4) in 2014. This is a significant drop. Many property purchasers generally buy a property during a hot market, and avoid purchasing in a downturn market.

I often get asked, “It is better to invest in commercial properties or residential properties?” What do you think? To me, these two types of properties can be a good investment opportunity, but it all depends on what’s the aim of the investors as both of these asset classes will help investors to achieve different type of objectives. Smart investors in the market don’t choose between the two: They look at both to see how it may fit into their overall portfolio.