Industry experts expect the Malaysian property market to be subdued this year, with a rebound slower than anticipated because of internal and external factors.

According to the WTW CEO property sector survey 2009, there is mounting concern over the country's volatile stock market performance, political uncertainties and unemployment rate.

Ninety-five per cent of the 106 respondents believed the market would continue on its downward trajectory this year.

The worsening global economic climate led by tighter credits is not helping the sector either.

Real estate services firm CH Williams Talhar & Wong (WTW) said that developers were not so upbeat on the sector despite the incentives offered by the government in the last two years.

"Developers are launching fewer products into the marketplace as they are worried about slower sales," its managing director Goh Tian Sui told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

There was a marked 57 per cent decline in new residential units launched last year in the Klang Valley compared to the year before. The number of residential transactions was down 11 per cent last year.

"Developers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude on how the picture will unfold in the world. Other than being more innovative and offering more sweeteners to spur demand, they are also looking to the government for some (fiscal) stimulus," Goh said.

"To find out whether the country is in a recession, we will have to wait until June," he added, referring to the country's gross domestic product data.

Nevertheless, Goh believes that the current soft market is an opportune time to look for bargains as property prices in some choice locations have eased.

He said that landed residential properties in Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Taman Tun Dr Ismail have dropped by some 10 per cent since a year ago.

Prices of luxury condominiums in Kuala Lumpur have softened 10-20 per cent owing to poor demand.

"The outlook is not so pretty for newly completed luxury condominiums that are bigger in size in terms of take-up and occupancy. The question is the timing itself, with a lot of completion happening around this time.

"We have been successful in getting people to buy for investments. But now, concern is looming over who will rent the units for RM15,000 to RM20,000 a month. If you talk to real estate agents, enquiries are fewer now," Goh said.

Demand remains high for landed residential properties in prime locations such as Damansara and Bangsar, where prices remain firm.

The WTW survey also indicated that the commercial property sector would remain volatile this year.