MRED Speaker Series: The overview of Malaysia Real Estate

Datuk Seri Michael Yam presenting a talk on Malaysia real estate

A virtual talk titled “Overview of Malaysia Real Estate” was conducted via Microsoft Teams by UTAR Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) on 20 June 2020.

Invited to deliver the talk was Datuk Seri Michael Yam Kong Choy, the past president of Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association of Malaysia (REHDA). In the talk, Datuk Seri Michael Yam first gave a brief history of the real estate industry and its evolution in Malaysia. He said, from basic shelter to lifestyle, developers today need to keep pace with the rapid changes in trends in response to the needs of an increasingly affluent population. He highlighted the potential market growth of real estates in Malaysia and shared some value creation features for real estate projects such as housing (gated and guarded), community facilities, amenities and facility, and green features. He also shared the future concepts of buildings and townships, and talked about the significance of the real estate industry.

He explained the affordable housing policy introduced by the government, saying that property developers are required to reserve a certain percentage of units for Bumiputera and sell the Bumiputera quota units at a discounted price. “Developers have to deliver housing in a holistic way. Non-affordable housing is allowed to be built, however, they have the social responsibility of providing affordable subsidised housing to the society,” he said. According to him, every state requires quota units to be set aside for Bumiputera. “For example, in Kedah, 30% to 50% of any residence built must set aside a five per cent discount for the Bumiputera; Kuala Lumpur has the Bumiputera quota set at 30% for all housing and commercial projects and the Bumiputera discount at five per cent,” he said. He further explained that more developers in Malaysia are offering incentives such as zero downpayment, low booking fee, cash rebate voucher and easy payment scheme for selected residential projects because of the unprecedented challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Datuk Seri Michael Yam also explained the main players in the real estate industry. He mentioned that the development of the industry was very much underpinned by developers, designers, contractors, sub-contractors and many other key players. He also presented the key activities and the key elements of real estate development. He said that the property development, which can be divided into three prominent stages, namely pre-development stage, development stage and post-development stage, is complex, highly regulated and undergoes a lengthy procedure in the delivery supply chain.

Moreover, he provided insights on demand forecasts and market trends, and shared the top five factors influencing property purchase. He also highlighted the importance of sustainability in development and illustrated some of the major industry challenges and enabling factors. The virtual talk then saw an active interaction between the speaker and the participants. It ended with a Q&A session.