Greater Kuala Lumpur Property Market Monitor | April 2023

Greater Kuala Lumpur

Property Market
Monitor 1Q23
Key Economics Indicators
7.0%  8.9%  3.9% 
Malaysia GDP Growth, Services Sector GDP Growth, Manufacturing Sector GDP Growth,
4Q 2022 Y-o-Y 4Q 2022 Q-o-Q 4Q 2022 Q-o-Q
(4Q 2021: 3.6%) (3Q 2022: 16.7%) (3Q 2022: 13.2%)

85.9 pts  105.3 pts  19.2% 

Business Conditions Index (BCI), Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI), Sales of Retail Trade,
4Q 2022 4Q 2022 February 2023 Y-o-Y
(3Q 2022: 99.8 pts) (3Q 2022: 98.4 pts) (February 2022 : 10.2%)

Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), & Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIE R).

Prime Grade A Office

• The quarter saw one (1) new completion as the market saw Menara
AFFIN – Affin Bank’s new headquarters coming online. As we
understand it, this building is currently 60% owner occupied.
• Vacancy rates recorded a recovery, mainly led by the financial
services industry and owner occupancies. This was particularly Recent Completions
noticed in the city centre whereby the market saw one large scale
owner occupancy movement. Menara AFFIN, 620,540 sq ft NLA
Tun Razak Exchange
• Overall net absorption remained positive in the quarter, largely driven
by trends of flight to quality as well as occupiers re-absorbing spaces Source: JLL
that were previously let go.
• A slowdown in space absorption was seen within the pharmaceutical,
professional services and co-working operators. Adaptation of hybrid
work models continues to be seen for companies within the creative
sector.
• Rental growth is observed across all submarkets thanks to well-
occupied and strategically located newer buildings. Despite this,
investors remain in wait for further changes since the formation of a
unity government.

57.95 MYR 6.1 1.5% MYR 740 2.7%

CURRENT GREATER KL GROSS RENT RENTAL GROWTH CAPITAL VALUE CAPITAL VALUE
STOCK IN 1Q23 IN 1Q23 (Q-O-Q) IN 1Q23 GROWTH
(MIL SQ FT NLA) (MYR PER SQ FT (MYR PER SQ FT NLA) (Q-O-Q)
MONTH NLA)

Source: JLL

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 Greater Kuala Lumpur Property Market Monitor | April 2023

Prime Retail
• Footfall is back to normal, especially at popular malls, having increased
noticeably during the recent festive periods. China’s reopening helped
boost optimism in the retail industry. We observed that popular malls in
the city centre have received hordes of foreign tourists.
• The recent quarterly retail sales performance for 4Q22 grew 13.7% y-o-y
and met market expectations despite a high base of 26.5% a year ago.
• The Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) shows that Malaysian consumers
maintain a positive but cautious outlook. The CSI score for 4Q22 has
risen 6.9 points to 105.3 points, breached the 100-point threshold.
• The quarter saw no new supply coming online. Retailers are now
becoming more open to the revenue sharing model - the concept of a
percentage of turnover as a component of rent so that there is potential
upside for landlords as sales increase, meanwhile in leaner times, they
have to pay less.
• There were no notable mall transactions in the quarter. Nevertheless,
there is news regarding the property developer YNH Property Bhd, which
is planning to sell 163 Retail Park and one retail asset outside of Greater
Kuala Lumpur in a related-party transaction to ALX Asset Bhd for a total
of MYR 422.5 million to raise fresh capital.
44.61 MYR 33.4 0.4% MYR 3,911 0.8%
CURRENT GREATER KL CITY CENTRE RENTAL GROWTH CITY CENTRE CAPITAL VALUE
STOCK IN 1Q23 GROSS RENT IN 1Q23 (Q-O-Q) CAPITAL VALUE IN 1Q23 GROWTH
(MIL SQ FT NLA) (MYR PER SQ FT (MYR PER SQ FT NLA) (Q-O-Q)
PER MONTH NLA)

Source: JLL

Prime High-Rise Residential

• Two (2) projects with a total of 788 units recently completed during the
quarter. Also, there was two (2) new launches with a total of 708 units
were reported for the quarter. Developers continue to prioritize
backlogged projects and hold back on launching new projects despite
improved economic conditions.
Residential Property Loan
• Capital values continues to increase because of the prolonged issues in
rising raw construction material costs and skilled foreign labour. Some Loan Applied MYR 36.4 bil
developers came up with a strategy by maintaining the initial selling price (Feb 2023) Jan 2023: MYR 26.7 bil

to favour and attract buyer.

Loan Approval Rates 38.4%
• Purchasing demand is seen subdued this quarter amidst cautious buyers’
(Feb 2023) Jan 2023: 40.2%
sentiment as there could be probability for the Overnight Policy Rate
(OPR) hike in the near future. Loan approval rate decreased in February Source: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)
2023 compared to January 2023 due to tightening lending standards.
• Therefore, rental demand improved as it was seen as an option for those
who postponed their purchase plans.
• The effectiveness of the revised Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H)
program and the Premium Visa Programme (PVIP) will continue to play
a significant role in determining the level of demand from foreign buyers
in the property market.
54,077 MYR 3.3 4.5% MYR 979 1.5%
CURRENT GREATER KL GROSS RENT RENTAL GROWTH CAPITAL VALUE CAPITAL VALUE
PRIME & LUXURY STOCK IN 1Q23 (Q-O-Q) IN 1Q23 GROWTH
IN 1Q23 (UNITS) (MYR PER SQ FT (MYR PER SQ FT) (Q-O-Q)
PER MONTH)

Source: JLL

© 2023 JLL Property Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 3
 Greater Kuala Lumpur Property Market Monitor | April 2023

Authors

Yulia Nikulicheva
Head of Research &
Consultancy
Malaysia
yulia.nikulicheva@jll.com

Nadhirah Arifin
Assistant Manager
Malaysia
nadhirah.arifin@jll.com

Henry Hong
Assistant Manager
Malaysia
zhiqiang.hong@jll.com

For more details on quarterly updates for Greater Kuala Lumpur property
sectors, you may wish to subscribe to our: Nurafiqah Mohd Sahar
Assistant Manager
Malaysia
Real Estate Intelligence Service (REIS) nurafiqah.mohdsahar@jll.com

Aqilah Mekmat
The REIS is a subscription-based research service designed to Analyst
provide timely, accurate and insightful real estate data and analyses. Malaysia
The REIS also furnishes a quarterly qualitative and forward-thinking aqilah.mekmat@jll.com
market monitoring and analyses across major institutional-grade
property markets as well as forecasts for key real estate indicators.

If you are interested to know more or subscribe to REIS, kindly visit

www.jll.com.my/en/reis

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This publication has been prepared solely for information purposes and does not necessarily purport to be a complete analysis of the topics discussed,
which are inherently unpredictable. It has been based on sources we believe to be reliable, but we have not independently verified those sources and we
do not guarantee that the information in the publication is accurate or complete. Any views expressed in the report reflect our judgment at this date and are
subject to change without notice.

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