PETALING JAYA: The property market is expected to remain sluggish in the first half of 2020 despite back-to-back reductions in the overnight policy rate (OPR) as sentiment determines buying decision.
Citing an internal study on the relationship between OPR, business/consumer confidence, applied and approved mortgages as well as property sales growth, Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB) said business/ consumer confidence indicators have a stronger relationship with property sales correlation than OPR.
“In other words, a cut in OPR does not necessarily lead to a significant increase in property sales in subsequent quarters if business/consumer confidence does not pick up, notwithstanding lower interest rates would help more property purchasers qualify for mortgages by lowering the monthly instalment, ” it said in a report yesterday.
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