PETALING JAYA: PropertyGuru Malaysia and iProperty Malaysia managing director Vic Sithasanan said a formal Residential Tenancy Act could provide greater guidance and governance for Malaysia’s growing rental market as more consumers explore renting before committing to homeownership.
He said PropertyGuru Malaysia has seen rental searches consistently outpace sale searches over the past year, reflecting growing interest in renting, although he stressed that platform search activity should not be interpreted as a measure of market-wide rental demand or completed tenancies.
“I think renting at the moment is on the rise in terms of just interest from what we can gather from our platform,” Vic told SunBiz.
“The Act is a way for us to put a lot more guidance and governance around rental – the relationship between a renter and a landlord.”
He said PropertyGuru welcomes efforts to introduce a clearer framework for the rental market. “We’re definitely happy whenever that comes out – if it helps the market, it helps us.”
According to a clarification provided by PropertyGuru, rental searches on PropertyGuru Malaysia are consistently around 1.8 times sale searches over the past year. However, the company said the ratio reflects search activity on its platform and should not be interpreted as showing that rental demand is 1.8 times stronger than purchase demand across the wider market.
Vic said the increase in rental interest could also reflect changing attitudes towards homeownership, with some consumers choosing to rent in different locations before deciding where they want to settle permanently.
“The younger generation, especially after the (Covid-19) pandemic, have started thinking, ‘Okay, maybe I just rent closer to the office, saves me a lot of time and money’ and then that’s just part of my pathway to buying a property in the future.
“So although I may be able to afford now, maybe I’ll just rent first and then maybe just buy a bigger, better place in the future.”
For some households, renting is increasingly becoming part of the housing journey rather than simply an alternative for those unable to afford a home, Vic said.
“I think that on the whole, ‘We have to buy a house’ is probably not the mindset today as it was in the previous generation.”
