This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 30, 2023 - November 5, 2023

The latest report by the National Property Information Centre (Napic) shows that in the second quarter of this year, the property market in Sabah experienced a decline of 16.28% in volume and 13.47% in value compared with 2Q2022. There were 1,198 transactions valued at RM479.95 million during the quarter.

According to Rahim & Co regional manager (Sabah) Max Sylver Sintia when presenting The Edge/Rahim & Co Kota Kinabalu Housing Property Monitor 2Q2023, the drop was most likely due to the low number of newly launched residential properties in 1H2023 compared with 1H2022.

“Napic recorded 106 units of new residential unit launches in 1H2023 compared with 1,725 units in 1H2022. This indicates a contraction of 93.86% in newly launched residential units in Sabah, when comparing 1H2023 and 1H2022,” says Max.

“Despite the decline in volume and value of transactions in the primary market during the quarter under review, the secondary market remained stable, with all of the samples in the monitor for terraced houses recording year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in value, from 1.08% to 4.17%. For high-rise properties, only two samples did not record y-o-y growth, with the rest increasing from 0.8% to 4.3% y-o-y.”

Max highlights that in 2Q2023, properties priced below RM300,000 formed the bulk of transactions in the state with 613 transactions. These accounted for 51.17% of the total volume of transactions and were valued at RM113.427 million, equivalent to 23.63% of the total value of transactions of residential properties in Sabah during the quarter.

The next highest number of transactions was for residential properties priced from RM300,001 to RM500,000 (333 transactions worth RM131.51 million), followed by those priced from RM500,001 to RM1 million (192 transactions worth RM132.572 million), and above RM1 million (60 transactions worth RM102.44 million).

As for property types, Max says 1-, 2- and 3-storey terraced houses recorded the most transactions in the state during the quarter under review, with 448 transactions worth RM158.66 million. This was followed by condominiums and apartments with 328 transactions worth RM107.98 million and 1-, 2- and 3-storey semi-detached houses with 133 transactions worth RM78.53 million.

Max says the Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan conurbation accounted for the bulk of residential property transactions in Sabah with 608 transactions (making up 50.75% of the total number of residential property transactions) worth RM304.6 million (amounting to 63.46% of the total value of residential transactions in the state).

“Compared with 2Q2022, the number and value of residential property transactions in the Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan conurbation decreased 22.25% and 17.58% respectively. The next district with the highest volume of residential property transacted was Tawau with 177 transactions worth RM61.41 million, followed by Sandakan with 175 transactions worth RM56.09 million,” he says.

The most popular type of property transacted in the Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Putatan conurbation were condominiums and apartments, with 247 transactions worth RM92.74 million. This was followed by 1-, 2- and 3-storey terraced houses, with 168 transactions worth RM72.67 million.

“Notable property transactions recorded in 2Q2023 included the purchase of two parcels of adjoining vacant development land along Jalan Tuaran, measuring 19.4 acres, by Kiara Maison Sdn Bhd for about RM30.4 million. Kozai Realties Sdn Bhd purchased a parcel of land situated west of Bigwheel Industrial Park, measuring 4.17 acres, for RM14 million,” adds Max.

The 2-storey terraced houses in the monitor recorded an average y-o-y price growth of 2.48% in 2Q2023 compared with the same period in 2Q2022, an increase of 0.48 percentage points (ppt), Max says.

The highest y-o-y growth was recorded at Luyang Perdana, with an increase of 3.27% to RM790,000. This was followed by Ujana Kingfisher (3.23% to RM640,000), Taman Sri Borneo (2.94% to RM700,000), Millenium Height (2.38% to RM645,000), Golden Hill Garden (2.3% to RM890,000), Taman Jindo (2.17% to RM705,000) and Taman Indah Permai (1.08% to RM470,000).

Quarter on quarter (q-o-q), there was a slight price growth for houses in Ujana Kingfisher, which increased by 0.79%, followed by Millenium Height (0.78%), Taman Sri Borneo (0.72%), Taman Jindo (0.71%), Luyang Perdana (0.64%) and Golden Hill Garden (0.56%). There was no q-o-q growth registered in Taman Indah Permai.

Rental in Ujana Kingfisher improved 5.56% y-o-y to RM1,900 per month. Taman Indah Permai recorded rental growth of 3.33% y-o-y to RM1,550 per month, Taman Sri Borneo 2.56% to RM2,000 per month, Millenium Height 2.5% to RM2,050 per month and Luyang Perdana 2.17% to RM2,350 per month. There was no rental growth recorded in Taman Jindo and Golden Hill Garden

Q-o-q growth of the other 2-storey terraced house samples remained unchanged.

For 2-storey terraced houses, the average gross yield was 3.65%. Comparing the gross yield in 2Q2023 with 2Q2022, there was a slight increase of 0.01ppt.

The highest gross yield was registered at Taman Indah Permai (3.96%). This was followed by Millenium Height (3.81%), Taman Jindo (3.66%), Luyang Perdana and Golden Hill Garden (both 3.57%), Ujana Kingfisher (3.56%) and Taman Sri Borneo (3.43%).

For 1-storey terraced houses, the y-o-y price growth for 2Q2023 fell 0.17ppt to 3.99% from 4.16% in 2Q2022, Max says.

The highest y-o-y price growth was recorded in Taman Tuan Huat, with an increase of 4.17% to RM500,000, followed by Taman Sri Kepayan (3.92% to RM530,000) and Taman Nelly Ph 9 (3.88% to RM535,000).

Q-o-q, Taman Tuan Huat registered 1.01% growth, followed by Taman Sri Kepayan (0.95%) and Taman Nelly Ph 9 (0.94%).

Rents at Taman Tun Huat improved 3.23% y-o-y to RM1,600 per month. In Taman Nelly Ph 9, rents went up by 3.03% y-o-y to RM1,700 per month. There was no change to rents in Taman Sri Kepayan.

Q-o-q, rents for Taman Nelly Ph 9 improved 3.03% while the rest of the samples remained unchanged.

Average gross yield achieved for 1-storey terraced houses was 3.87%, down 0.07ppt compared with 2Q2022.

The highest yield was registered at Taman Sri Kepayan with 3.96%, followed by Taman Tuan Huat (3.84%) and Taman Nelly Ph 9 (3.81%).

Condominiums recorded an average 1.67% y-o-y price growth in 2Q2023, an increase of 0.06ppt compared with 2Q2022.

“Overall, the price for our condominium samples averaged RM539 psf in 2Q2023,” says Max.

Alam Damai registered the highest price growth y-o-y (4.3% to RM605 psf), followed by Bayshore Condominium (2.8% to RM555 psf), 1 Borneo Condominium (2.6% to RM390 psf), The Peak Condominium (1.5% to RM660 psf) and Likas Square (1.2% to RM410 psf). The average price for Marina Court and Radiant Tower remained at RM600 psf and RM495 psf respectively.

Q-o-q, 1 Borneo Condominium registered a price growth of 1.3%, followed by Bayshore Condominium with 0.9% and Alam Damai (up 0.8%). The rest remained unchanged.

Rents at 1 Borneo Condominium improved 3.13% y-o-y to RM1.67 psf per month. This was followed by Alam Damai with 2.5% growth to RM1.86 psf per month and Bayshore Condominium with 1.72% to RM1.64 psf per month.

“The other condos held steady with Jesselton Condo at RM2 psf per month, Marina Court at RM2 psf per month, Likas Square at RM1.48 psf per month, Radiant Tower at RM1.77 psf per month and The Peak Condominium at RM2 psf per month,” he adds.

Q-o-q, 1 Borneo Condominium recorded 3.13% growth followed by Bayshore Condominium with 1.72%. The other condominiums did not record q-o-q growth.

Max says condominiums registered an average gross yield of 4.08%, a slight decrease of 0.03ppt compared with 2Q2022.

“The highest gross yield for our condominium sampling was recorded at 1 Borneo Condominium with 5.13%, followed by Likas Square with 4.34%, Radiant Tower with 4.29%, Jesselton Condo and Marina Court both with 4%, Alam Damai with 3.7%, The Peak Condominium with 3.64% and Bayshore Condominium with 3.54%.”

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