No Property bubble, but doesn't mean prices won't go down.

From The Edge Daily:

PETALING JAYA: The local property market would be able to escape a bubble, such as the one affecting neighbouring countries, several industry experts said.

They said the local property market would be resilient in facing the current downturn as it was mainly driven by domestic demand.

A roundtable discussion on Corporate Real Estate Investment Opportunities organised by Zerin Properties that was posted on its website www.zerinproperties.com yesterday, the panellists agreed that the real estate market, particularly the residential sub-sector in well-located areas in the Klang Valley, continued to be attractive to both local and foreign investors.

According to International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) Malaysia president Datuk Richard Fong, the property market did experience a “slight bubble” in the high-end sector in Kuala Lumpur, particularly in KLCC, Mont’Kiara and Hartamas where property prices had doubled over the last three to five years.

Fong said there were good deals to be had in the condominium market in Kuala Lumpur city centre, especially those priced between RM800 and RM1,000 psf. “One should grab when you find sellers looking to cash out at a 30% discount from the property’s peak price,” he advised.

The argument du jour (of the day) is we aren't in as bad a situation, therefore we should not suffer as much is as big a bunch of baloney as I've seen. Housing is such an elastic type of good because Malaysians spend a lot of their income on housing. Obviously, if Malaysians choose to cut down spending on housing, they could very well take it out of their budget if they really wanted by doubling down, moving in with their families, etc.

While there might not be a "property bubble," if people lose their jobs a la retrenchment, housing for sure will suffer, for the obvious reason that the jobless can't support their housing situation any longer. It's the most obvious event that will happen, yet the "experts" dont' see this happening. Ludicrous.