LOCAL NEWS
   

LCOAL NEWS

Courtesy of CH Williams Talhar Wong & Yeo Sdn Bhd

MARKET OUTLOOK FOR 2006

The 2006 Sarawak property market demand growth is generally expected to slow down further. Many prospective buyers may adopt a wait-and-see attitude in the face of further increases in the banking base lending rate (BLR), higher deposit rates and slower growth in the general economy of the State.

The fear and threat of further increases in petrol prices and inflation rates, the global slow down in economic growth and the global trend of rising interest rates are expected to dampen the buying sentiment in the property market. High-end housing and non-prime commercial and industrial properties are expected to suffer more than the mass-market housing due partly also to the shrinking number of prospects after the past six (6) years or so active participation.

Demand for reasonably priced medium-cost housing is expected to remain strong in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.

One major supplier of new medium-cost housing in Sarawak from 2006 onwards will be Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) which is expected to start off its over 1 billion Ringgit worth of housing projects in Kuching, Sibu, .0

Bintulu and Miri.

House prices are not expected to be reduced by housing developers in view of higher land cost and higher building and development costs.

On the retail/commercial sector, construction of a few complexes will likely commence in 2006 in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.

REVIEW OF 2005 PROPERTY MARKET

The general slow down of the property market in Sarawak was felt more deeply in the second half of 2005, though houses in prime locations were still in good demand. But prices remain at levels slightly higher than the 2004 levels.