Raine & Horne Commercial

Malaysia Muhammad Zhahril Dato’ Zaki, Vice President of Raine & Horne Malaysia, says the Malaysian property market declined sharply in H1 2020 owing to the 2020 Movement Control Order (MCO) period. The federal government of Malaysia issued the MCO as a preventive measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on 18 March 2020. As a consequence of the MCO, demand for commercial properties contracted by 36.0% in volume and 47.6% in value compared to H2 2019. Office markets remained moderate, with an overall occupancy rate of 74.3% in H1 2020. The Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, contributed 51.0% of total office space in the country, followed by Selangor state and Johor state. The national occupancy rate for retail properties continued to decline to 78.6% in H1 2020. Selangor state dominated 22.0% of total national retail space, registering 741,200 square metres. 46 - Muhammad Zhahril Dato’ Zaki zhahril@raineandhorne.my