Malaysia’s economy registered an average growth rate of 9.5 percent in the first half of 2010, compared with a 5.1 percent contraction during the same period in 2009. Its emergence from the recession in third quarter 2009 was largely helped by an expansion in private consumption and investment. With government forecasts for 2011 predicting GDP growth in the region of 5.0 percent to 6.0 percent, optimism that the recovery will continue is strengthening.

As the economy improves, Malaysian property is continuing to attract attention from investors, with average house prices in Kuala Lumpur showing a significant increase during the first half of the year. The latest report by the National Property Information Center showed that average house prices across the country rose 19 percent to RM 273,000 (US$186,736) in the first half of 2010. In Kuala Lumpur alone, capital values increased by 35 percent to more than RM 700,000 (US$222,398) in the same period. This news has led to talk