Knight Frank Opens First International Real Estate Firm

“This opportunity allows us to extend our boundaries into new frontiers and take our property services to new levels. We’re enthused and honoured to be able to bring international standards of the property industry to Sabah," said Mr Sarkunan Subramaniam, Managing Director, Knight Frank Malaysia.

Knight Frank Sabah will be helmed by Mr Ginn Lai as Associate Director and Ms Stephenie Wong as Resident Branch Manager. Lai has been in the real estate industry for 16 years with global experience in project marketing, property and facilities management, commercial and retail agency, hospitality, and development feasibility analyses.

Sabah is quickly gaining regional interest from major real estate developers and investors. Some of the key factors driving the increase in interest in the Sabah real estate market include the region’s lower capital value base; availability of financing; low interest rate environment; and a transparent legal and title system.

Performance across tourism, agriculture and aquaculture, and oil and gas sectors have been a catalyst for urban and rural property development, both for domestic demand and the increasing number of expatriate relocations to Sabah.

Also spurring development and property values in Kota Kinabalu is an expanding population, which is estimated to grow to more than 1 million by 2020 according to the Sabah Economic and Development Investment Authority (SEDIA).

Fuelling this is migration from within Borneo as well as internationally, supported by Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) applications and the growing oil and gas industry which is expected to create more than 23,000 jobs.

“As the rest of developed Asia struggles with heated property markets, Sabah is at the tipping point with a confluence of Borneo's unique offerings and strong property drivers," said Mr Ginn Lai, Associate Director, Knight Frank Malaysia (Sabah Branch).