PENANG’S residential property prices are listed as the second most improved in the Asean region – behind Singapore – based on the Knight Frank Asia Pacific Survey Index for the first half of this year, said a state executive councillor.
The survey shows a 5.78% increase for homes in Penang whereas Singapore recorded a 7.97% hike while Bangkok in Thailand was third at 4.36%, said S. Sundarajoo (Prai-PH), the state executive councillor for housing and the environment.
“This is a strong economic indicator, and it shows that Penang is returning to strong growth levels despite the dire consequences of Covid-19,” he told state opposition leader Muhammed Fauzi Yusoff (Sg Dua-PN).
Fauzi had asked the state legislative sitting about how Penang could cope with rising prices for affordable housing after the price hike was disclosed by Knight Frank.
To this, Sundarajoo said the average household income has also increased in tandem with the rise in property prices.
The rise in property prices is also in tandem with the state property assessment report for the second quarter of this year, which was obtained from the National Property Information Centre.
It showed that only 502 units from 2,901 available units in Penang in the range of RM300,000 and below remained unsold, said Sundarajoo.
The former developer said Penang was trying to ease the property market from overheating by working with banks and developers to offer property fairs.
“It has seen a slight reduction of 10% in prices for the affordable category,” he said.
In another development, state executive councillor for tourism and creative economy, Wong Hon Wai (Paya Terubong-PH), announced that Penang has doubled its tourist arrivals in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year.
From January until June this year, the state recorded 1.682 million visitors, marking an over-100% increase compared to the same period last year, said Wong.
Answering queries from Heng Lee Lee (Berapit-PH), Wong said based on data extracted from Malaysia Airports Berhad, the top ten countries from which visitors came are Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Thailand, USA, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Japan.
Wong said the momentum of recovery from the pandemic has been impressive and the state is in the midst of trying to maintain such a trajectory by seeking direct flights and exploring the possibility of having more direct charted flights. – The Vibes, November 22, 2023.
