The residential property market continues to be soft, particularly for landed residences, while other subsegments of residences like high-rise apartments are also experiencing a slowdown in sales.

According to the Real Estate Market Outlook 2019 released by CBRE and WTW Research, this is a continuation from last year's 'slow and cautious' stance as the property market adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

"Both developers and buyers are cautious in decision-making, pending further political and economic developments," it said in the report.

Figures from the Real Estate Market Outlook 2019 revealed that Kuching's landed residential market has seen very few new launches, especially in prime housing areas. Most launches last year were in the outer-lying secondary prime areas, it said.

Dato Alex Ting, director of Kozin Real Estate told The Borneo Post in a recent interview the property market will likely continue to be soft in Sarawak for the short to medium-term.

Ting explained that the oversupply of condominiums which constitute around 50 per cent of the overhang units in Sarawak was not due to lack of buyers but by the prices of the units which are beyond their affordability as there is strong demand for properties priced under RM250,000.

Ting said the high demand for affordable properties has been largely reflected by the booming sales of PR1MA units in the state.

Kozin Real Estate, which is the only firm appointed to sell the three PR1MA projects in Kuching, reported a high number of sales in the past few months, especially after the recent announcement of the Home Ownership Campaign which effectively slashed unit prices by 28 per cent.

"When we first started selling the units, we sold about 100 units but after the Home Ownership Campaign started on March 1, we've sold about 1,350 in just a month and a half," he shared.