Strong rebound for 2022, moderate pace in 2023 and spill-over likely for 2024
Contributed by Sulaiman Saheh
Following the strong rebound of 2022 in property market transactions, 2023 came through at a more moderate pace. The year began with a slight slowdown as transaction activities recorded a 5.7% drop year-on-year for the first quarter. This was immediately followed by a growth of 1.8% in the second quarter and 3.7% in the third quarter, which ultimately pulled the nation’s market performance for the first nine months of 2023 on par with 2022. Though it is not yet known how the fourth quarter has performed at the time of writing, 2023 has positioned itself to be the highest in the number of transactions for the first nine months since 2012’s peak point. Market normalisation aside, 2023 remained coherent to the post-pandemic recovery pace and above pre-2020 performance.
Holding its position as the biggest sector in transaction share, the residential sector saw its portion normalising to pre-2020 proportion of the market underlined by increased activities in the commercial, industrial and agriculture sectors as the economy improves. House price growth, after having experienced some shake-up within the two pandemic-driven years, showed a more stable movement with positive growth seen from 2022 to 2023. Within the first three quarters of 2023, prices kept to a steady and moderating pace. Having faced a challenging period in the late 2010s, developers took a more cautious approach to new launches by way of smaller-scale phases and prioritising ongoing projects over newer ones.