The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia

In recent times, the growth rate of house prices has significantly outpaced income growth in Malaysia. Affordability of housing is now a major concern for many Malaysians especially the younger generation. This issue of house price outpacing income, however, is not unique to Malaysia as many countri...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ng, Edmund Hseen Long
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2016
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37766/
_version_ 1848795528882552832
author Ng, Edmund Hseen Long
author_facet Ng, Edmund Hseen Long
author_sort Ng, Edmund Hseen Long
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description In recent times, the growth rate of house prices has significantly outpaced income growth in Malaysia. Affordability of housing is now a major concern for many Malaysians especially the younger generation. This issue of house price outpacing income, however, is not unique to Malaysia as many countries have faced this issue. This has led to much empirical research done with regards to housing affordability. There are empirical researchers who argue that house prices must reflect its fundamentals in the long-run, meaning the gap between house price and income cannot keep growing larger and larger. Sooner or later prices must stagnate or fall for income to catch up. Using data from 1999 to 2015, I have tested this theory by employing two cointegration techniques. Testing the data using the traditional Engle & Granger test found no cointegrating relationship between house price and income. However, re-testing the data set with the more recently developed and more sophisticated bounds testing approach of Pesaran, Shin & Smith, I find empirical evidence that house price is cointegrated with income, construction cost and wealth. This implies that in the long-run, house prices in Malaysia must stagnate or fall to reflect its fundamentals more closely. However, there is no telling how long this might take especially if prices are currently not fundamentals-driven but are actually over-inflated due to the possibility of a housing market bubble. Thus in the short-run, many Malaysians will continue to suffer if the government does not take steps to alleviate the situation and possibly help restore this equilibrium relationship between house price and income that many researchers believe exists. Public policies such as macroprudential tools to curb speculation and over-investment should be imposed by the government so that prices are able to reflect its fundamental values more closely.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:33:32Z
format Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-37766
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:33:32Z
publishDate 2016
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-377662017-10-19T17:15:17Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37766/ The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia Ng, Edmund Hseen Long In recent times, the growth rate of house prices has significantly outpaced income growth in Malaysia. Affordability of housing is now a major concern for many Malaysians especially the younger generation. This issue of house price outpacing income, however, is not unique to Malaysia as many countries have faced this issue. This has led to much empirical research done with regards to housing affordability. There are empirical researchers who argue that house prices must reflect its fundamentals in the long-run, meaning the gap between house price and income cannot keep growing larger and larger. Sooner or later prices must stagnate or fall for income to catch up. Using data from 1999 to 2015, I have tested this theory by employing two cointegration techniques. Testing the data using the traditional Engle & Granger test found no cointegrating relationship between house price and income. However, re-testing the data set with the more recently developed and more sophisticated bounds testing approach of Pesaran, Shin & Smith, I find empirical evidence that house price is cointegrated with income, construction cost and wealth. This implies that in the long-run, house prices in Malaysia must stagnate or fall to reflect its fundamentals more closely. However, there is no telling how long this might take especially if prices are currently not fundamentals-driven but are actually over-inflated due to the possibility of a housing market bubble. Thus in the short-run, many Malaysians will continue to suffer if the government does not take steps to alleviate the situation and possibly help restore this equilibrium relationship between house price and income that many researchers believe exists. Public policies such as macroprudential tools to curb speculation and over-investment should be imposed by the government so that prices are able to reflect its fundamental values more closely. 2016 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37766/1/NgEdmundHseenLong-37766.pdf Ng, Edmund Hseen Long (2016) The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
spellingShingle Ng, Edmund Hseen Long
The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia
title The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia
title_full The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia
title_fullStr The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia
title_short The Long-Run Relationship between House Prices and Income in Malaysia
title_sort long-run relationship between house prices and income in malaysia
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37766/