Terraced houses and condominiums enjoyed some of the best returns and capital appreciation prior to the influx of high-rise units in the Klang Valley property market in the mid-2000s, says PPC International Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Siders Sittampalam. Rents generally declined owing to the increased supply, he adds.
“Owing to the rising cost of land, developers adopted vertical development. The growing population and demand for housing led to the growth of high-rise developments, and land for development became scarce and costly,” Siders says.
On top of the persistent soft market, last year had been challenging to both the economy and the property market generally, owing to the Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war, US-China trade war, change in government in Malaysia and the Covid-19 pandemic, Siders notes. “The real estate market [saw] declining sales volume, capital values and rental returns or yields.