Sheda Kuching advisor Sim Kiang Chiok was quoted in the New Sarawak Tribune as saying the economic landscape would continue to be dominated by such issues as the slowing economies of Europe and China, Brexit, uncertainty in the US in the wake of Donald Trump’s unexpected presidential victory, and lower oil and commodity prices.

In Sarawak, said Sim, the outlook for private developers was challenging owing to a host of factors, including government policies and programmes and the lack of support from financial institutions.

He said banks at present were very strict with end financing and this affected the sale of houses.

He urged banks to consider lending on a staggered basis i.e. low repayments during the first five years, and subsequently increasing repayment amounts on an ascending scale.

At present, the report quoted him as saying, banks had tightened their lending criteria from nett income to proven income, and no projections were being accepted on future incomes.

Sim reckoned developers may have to consider going for smaller volumes and selling more to higher income groups. In addition, they may turn contractor to the government for the provision of affordable and public housing.

According to Sheda, apartments were popular with first-time house buyers and pensioners conscious of “security”, with double-storey link houses being overall the most popular in the market.