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As more foreigners go house-hunting in Malaysia, sellers say cash is king

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Tan Ai Leng

Published Tue, Sep 27, 2022 · 05:50 AM

Malaysia has registered 188,002 property transactions worth RM84.4 billion in the first 6 months this year, a year-on-year increase of 34.5 per cent in volume and 36.1 per cent in value. PHOTO: REUTERS
Propnex Malaysia group leader and resident manager Matt Tian says some property owners are willing to sell at a discount if buyers are paying in cash. PHOTO: PROPNEX MALAYSIA
Juwai IQI global chief economist Shan Saeed says: “Real estate has become the new global currency for sophisticated and smart investors.” PHOTO: JUWAI IQI
Paul Khong, group managing director of Savills (Malaysia), says the reopening of international borders this year and the transition to Covid-19 endemicity have spurred market sentiment and investment interest. PHOTO: SAVILLS (MALAYSIA)
Siva Shanker of Rahim and Co International Property Consultants says: “The majority of the interested overseas buyers are still taking a wait-and-see approach (as) regional countries including Malaysia are still vulnerable to global uncertainties." PHOTO: RAHIM & CO
Eric Lim of Hartamas Real Estate Group says the company is seeing more purchasers or prospective buyers from South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. HARTAMAS REAL ESTATE GROUP

DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.

MATT Tian, a veteran property agent at PropNex Malaysia, was on holiday recently when he received a call from an overseas client requesting to view one of his listings in Kuala Lumpur.

The arrangements were quickly made, and the transaction was wrapped up in less than a week after Tian returned to Malaysia. The buyer snapped up 2 luxury condo units with a combined size of 7,000 square feet for RM5.1 million (S$1.6 million) in cash, after getting a 15 per cent discount from the market value of RM6 million.

“Since Malaysia’s borders reopened in April, there are more enquiries from abroad, and some property owners are willing to give a 10-15 per cent discount if the buyers are willing to pay in cash,” Tian told The Business Times recently, adding that he has handled at least 10 such viewers over the past month.

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