It’s not easy for the government and all stakeholders when it comes to a mismatch in the property market. The people wants to buy homes but they want it to be affordable and it must be in a good location and at least have good features which they want. The current unsold units point to a mismatch in demand vs supply which the government intends to correct by building 100,000 affordable units within 2019. Earlier article here. There are also calls to relax the lending rules for some of these potential buyers so that they could get the loan they need. Earlier article here. We should also note that between banks willing to lend and borrowers able to qualify are two different things altogether too. Earlier article here. As for the measures to boost the property market, here’s a roundup.
Article in NST here. Malaysia’s economy this year is expected to be slower compared to the last two years with a projected growth of 4.9% in 2018, 4.7% this year and 4.6% next year. Based on the latest statistics available, the number of unsold residential properties rose 48.35% (30,115) from 20,304 units year-on-year while the total value increased 56.44% from RM12.49 billion. The 2019 Budget introduced some measures to encourage the residential property market growth.
Some of the measures are:
- Stamp duty exemption on the first RM300,000 on the sale and purchase agreement for first-time buyers priced RM500,000 and below.
- Six-month stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers for units between RM300,000-RM1 million.
- Peer-to-peer crowdfunding initiative to provide buyers an alternative source of funding.
- Building of affordable homes for the B40 group.
- Help from Bank Negara Malaysia for first-time buyers with an income of less than RM2,300 for homes priced below RM150,000 with an 3.5% interest.
- RM25 million by Cagamas to provide mortgage guarantees for first-time home buyers with incomes of less than RM5,000.
Boosting the property market is needed. People needing a home but could not yet have enough downpayment could be helped with rent-to-own schemes. Please include the secondary market too. However if there are moves which will be making the property market become more speculative, it should be avoided at all costs. Buyers who really do not qualify should not get the loan they applied for, period. Properties must be built in areas and specs which the buyers need. Looking at many of the unsold units revealed that many were built for the quantity alone. Hopefully the 100,000 units will all be sold out and not add into the unsold numbers when we look back in 2020. Happy following.
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Article written and edited by Charles. News article summarised by Dina Batrisyia.
Next suggested article: Unsold units? Rent them out perhaps?
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