An interesting survey by StarProperty.my in its latest Buyers’ Sentiment Survey revealed that the majority of the 3,000 respondents in their latest survey are keen to buy property in 2019.

In fact, 42% said they will buy within the next 12 months. 34% said they were not thinking of buying while 24% said they were undecided. (This is why the last mile is so important. Just getting more leads is not going to close the sale.

Out of those surveyed, 84% said they preferred to buy versus rent. This is actually very predictable. The issue is that these days, people are renting homes which they may not be able to afford to buy in the future.

Today, owners of properties are under pressure and thus are renting their homes at a lower rate than their monthly mortgage.

When we have enjoyed such a nice place at a lower rental, it’s tough to choose to pay a similar mortgage for an inferior home elsewhere.

Once you rent high, you may never buy. It’s also important for people who are thinking of property to note that property is not an investment which is low risk and has low returns.

Here’s one earlier article: Property investment is not low risk and low returns.

Property demand will always depend on affordability and it’s not always about location, location and location. Unless of course one has unlimited financial capabilities.

Fact is, if KLCC remains extremely affordable, there’s no way certain people would buy in Semenyih for landed properties.

The findings of the survey also revealed that the price of property (with a weighted average of 3.85) tops the list of factors that influence buyers, followed closely by safety and security (3.82) with location (3.80) in third spot.

Let’s also understand that wanting to buy versus actually getting ready to buy are two very different things.

This is why we could set our yearly goals in January but at the end of the year, we may not have even started the process.

If we really intend to buy, then read this article: 10 reasons why we will fail to buy property As for the actual results from the survey, we should start seeing some results by H1 2019.

Just look at the transaction numbers which will be announced on a quarterly basis. Someone asked if 2019 was a good year to buy if it is an investment property.

Actually, whether it’s 2019, 2020 or even 2021, the answer is the same. “Have you identified the type, location and project? If yes, is the affordability okay? Answering YES means a buy.

Anything else means not yet. The year matters very little.

This article first appeared in kopiandproperty.com