QUOTE(walle @ Jan 21 2009, 01:54 PM)
Rental at high end properties especially Mont' Kiara started to drop as more and more expatriates return to their respective country without complete or renew their tenancy contract. Some owner start looking for new tenant now with lower rental.
Exactly! That's why in my previous post I also highlighted that the transaction prices have come down 30-40% in some cases, falling below developer prices.
I was surprised TS mentioned that prices hadn't dropped, and I surmise it's because TS was looking at certain areas which (in a previous posting, I can't remember where) I had highlighted that areas that are resilient to price drops will be those with a strong local component with mainly buyers-buying-to-stay.
You are going to see price drops & price volatility where:
(1) Rentals by an expatriate community engaged in certain vulnerable economic sectors (e.g. electronics)
(2) Properties that have been purchased by a large percentage of speculative buyers (e.g. where you find a high % of instances where more than 3 units in a development purchased by a single buyer)
If TS is looking at properties situated in demand-resilient areas, e.g. where tenants may appear to be invulnerable to the downturn, or few speculative buyers, you are not going to see the volatility in the transaction prices.