We have good news for aspiring home seekers – iProperty.com.my will soon incorporate the latest data points from brickz.my (and more) into the property listings available on our site, saving you valuable time and effort.
Soon enough, visitors to iProperty.com.my can view updated data information in the property description page when they click on a residential project, including the property’s median price per sq feet (PSF), as well as Y-O-Y capital appreciation and asking rental yields percentages.
If you are unfamiliar with these data terms, read on!
Premendran Pathmanathan, founder of brickz.my and currently the GM of Customer Data Solutions at REA Group Asia (Parent company of iProperty.com.my) explains the importance of timely property data and how it can assist Malaysian consumers in making the most informed real estate decision.
Premendran is the founder of brickz.my, a property portal that provides details on transacted property prices across Malaysia. The website provides reliable and up-to-date property price information and displays the 10 latest transactions for residential, commercial, industrial, land and agricultural projects in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor for free.
#1 Why is data important for consumers?
We all know there are two parties in a real estate transaction – the seller and the buyer. When it comes to pricing, the former’s main concern will be “Am I underselling my property?” while a buyer will always question “Am I overpaying for this house?”
When shopping for a sub-sale property and scrolling through listings online, you will see the property’s description, including the number of bedrooms, unit size, project facilities and all that. However, you are going to need more information to determine whether you are getting your money’s worth or not – in particular, consumers require real-time performance data.
Most purchasers have an idea of the property type and area they wish or purchase into, but many have no clue over current market values and other pricing denominators including median price PSF, median prices in the area, etc.
Hence, they rely on word of mouth or anecdotal information when making a real estate purchasing decision. You may come across some data across a few sites when researching online, but most of these data, (if they are legitimate in the first place) are outdated or are no longer relevant as the figures displayed are from more than a few years back.
There are the quarterly statistics and yearly reports from the National Property Information Centre (Napic) under the Ministry of Finance’s Valuation and Property Services Department, but these data points are very macro (state-level) and do not dive into a specific area or neighbourhood, let alone a specific residential project/landed home scheme.
#2 Was that why you founded brickz.my, which compiles and presents actual data of transacted sub-sale property prices in Malaysia?
Yes, everyone should have access to reliable, accurate and up-to-date transacted sub-sale property price information. Brickz’s mission is to make actual transacted data in Malaysia transparent besides providing the latest and legitimate insights to help homeowners, investors and real estate agents save hours of property research time.
Brickz.my sources data from the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), which officially records property transactions once the stamp duty for the Sales and Purchase Agreement is paid.
Home shoppers can instantly see the property’s latest sales history, its sale value, per sq ft price as well as median prices of properties in the area. Meanwhile, homeowners can stay informed about their property by keeping track of the volume and value of similar homes being sold recently, thus getting a clear idea of the real estate supply and demand in their area.
Users can play around with the tabs and filter according to residential districts or dive into a residential project. For instance, should you click on Damansara Villa, a freehold condominium in the prime neighbourhood of Damansara Heights, you will be privy to the latest sales records and median PSF as well as the unit size and the number of bedrooms.
Screenshot captured from brickz.my
These data points will help you determine if you’re overpaying for that unit you have your eye on. On top of that, you can easily streamline the kind of property you would want to live in, be it condominium or terrace home as well as your preferred residential neighbourhoods to check whether your target property falls within your budget or not; allowing you to conduct your property due diligence much more quickly and effectively.
#3 What about capital growth and rental yield values?
Capital growth is the value by which the property increases over time while rental yield is defined as the returns on a property investment from a rental perspective – these two figures are usually calculated and presented in an annual or Year-on-Year basis.
Property buyers are split into 2 groups: The first is for those buying a property for investment purposes (investor) while the other is a genuine home buyer (first time home buyer) or owner-occupier.
Investors are particularly interested in rental yield figures as they will want to put their money into an investment that would provide the most lucrative returns. Meanwhile, first time home buyers are very keen on capital growth because their first purchase is usually a starter home and they will have plans of upgrading after 5 years or so. Hence, they will want to know the resale potential and whether they can secure a tidy profit when selling off their home.
#4 So how can a consumer find out about growth appreciation and rental yield figures?
At the moment, there isn’t any capital growth and rental information on brickz.my. However, a consumer is able to gauge capital appreciation manually using brickz.my as the website allows you to filter property pricing according to specific date ranges. So, if you were to select condominiums transacted in Sentul from January to December 2017, a median price will be shown. For example, the median price says RM500 per square feet.
Next, when you change the date from January to December 2016 and the data shows RM450 per square feet. Hence, you can quickly calculate the growth – it has appreciated by 11.11%. (RM500-RM450)/RM450 X 100%
But, you don’t have to go through the hassle anymore in the near future.
We have good news for aspiring home seekers – iProperty.com.my will soon incorporate the latest data points from brickz.my into the property listings available on our site. Thus, visitors to iProperty who click on a listing can view additional information in the property description page, namely the property’s median price per sq ft and the area’s median price per sq ft (for the same type of property).
For example, say you’re buying an apartment unit in Mont Kiara for RM700 per square feet; you might think it’s a good deal as Mont Kiara is a very popular and established suburb. This might have been the median price in 2015 or 2016, but it could have fluctuated since then. What if our latest area median per sq ft figures inform the user that similar condominiums in the area are going for only RM600 per square feet? Of course, you would opt for the property that is 15% cheaper.
However, consumers still have to further evaluate the property based on their personal wants and needs – you might prefer the unit at a better location with superior facilities and more convenient connectivity links, e.d distance to MRT/LRT stations.
Next in the pipeline, we will be including the latest capital appreciation figures and asking rental yield percentages into each of iProperty.com’s listings as well – so consumers can look forward to getting better insights into the property market and the unit that they are interested in.
In the meantime, make sure to check out our data analysis articles, where we zoom into an area and dissect current data including current purchasing trends, what are the most popular projects and what are iProperty.com users searching for.
#5 What advice would you give to property buyers and sellers?
If you are in the midst of making a decision on whether to buy or sell your property, make sure to look up supporting data beforehand. The beauty with brickz.my and soon, iProperty.com’s data is that it is legitimate and transparent to everyone in the industry. So if you’re a seller and you feel your property needs to be sold at a higher price, please prepare your reasonings beforehand as your buyer will also have the same data as you!
Should your unit not have any extraordinary features or USP’s, then look at the area’s median price and set your selling price accordingly. As for buyers, please be prepared with all this readily available information before attending a property unit viewing. Not only will be more confident as a consumer but by staying more informed on the market activity, it makes for a more efficient and confident process when engaging with a real estate negotiator once you are ready to transact.
