More foreigners may take advantage of weakening ringgit to buy properties

Foreigners tend to buy properties for long-term and could hold them without tenants for five to 10 years, Chua Kee Kian, Managing Director of the media and event management company focusing on property industry said.

He said the areas most sought after by foreign buyers were the Kuala Lumpur city centre and Mont Kiara.

"We are seeing more foreign developers, especially from China armed with databases of their previous purchasers from China coming to Malaysia to buy properties," he said.

He was speaking to reporters at the launch of a coffee table book entitled "Property Insight: A guide to Best Property Investment Opportunities 2015/2016" by Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Mhd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz here on Thursday .

Chua said on the contrary, there was poor property investment from locals, declining between 10 and 15 per cent in the last two months due to sluggish local and global economic climate.

Local investors are holding back their money and are more interested in property investment abroad such as in Australia, he added.

Chua said investing in properties should be for mid-term and long-term to tide over market volatility.

"Property investment is all about market confidence. We expect headwinds in the next six months, but things will stabilise and the market will pick up again," he said.