The overhang of unsold residential units in Malaysia was at 34,092 units, valued at RM21.73 billion, at the end of the first half of 2022.
Of the overhang in residential units, almost 60 per cent were high-rise properties, at 20,273 units, according to the Finance Ministry’s National Property Information Centre.
The overhang of commercial properties stood at 32,025 units, valued at RM16.97 billion, of which 70.8 per cent were serviced apartments. Unsold industrial units totalled 1,071, valued at RM1.39 billion.
Cattocity Holdings Sdn Bhd, a tech start-up involved in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), hopes to reduce this pain point among property developers and owners by playing an active role in Malaysia’s property sector, especially in helping to market unsold properties by using NFTs to obtain special purchasing privileges.
At the same time, Cattocity also wants to nurture a networking community for its NFT holders to have access to exclusive perks and privileges in the food and beverage, hospitality, healthcare, leisure, and entertainment segments. To date, some 200 retail merchants have teamed up with Cattocity.
Speaking at the company’s launch in Petaling Jaya yesterday, its chief executive officer, Low Sing Chyuan, said: “At Cattocity, we want to help in the disposal of unsold properties through our unique win-win marketing plans, which should revolutionise the local property market.”
The company, he said, would familiarise more people with the usefulness of NFTs, especially in the property and leisure sectors, before it starts marketing its NFTs from the first quarter of next year.
Cattocity plans to release its first batch of 10,000 NFTs in Q1 2023.
Cattocity NFTs will eventually be listed in Opensea, the world’s largest and most secure NFT trading platform.
The company has chosen its NFTs to be shaped in the form of colourful and adorable cats as they are usually regarded as cute and agile.
Cattocity was founded by four professionals from property development, software development, marketing, and NFT art, who felt that they had something unique that they could offer to help solve the problem of unsold real estate units through the use of NFTs to get special discounts from participating property developers.
Cattocity, he said, believes it can help resolve the deadlock through its own NFTs, which can be described as modern-day investments, driven by technology.
Cattocity’s aim is simple: to be a unique player in the property sales space for residential, commercial, and industrial properties by getting property developers and owners to come on board to offer their properties at special reserved prices to Cattocity NFT holders.
“Holders can also benefit from being a part of an ecosystem that transcends both physical property owners and virtual property ownership, without going through middlemen to ensure more added value, cost-savings, and a host of long-term intangible benefits,” Low added.
