Our Malaysian property market has not been performing well ever since the arrival of COVID-19 to Malaysia. No one could view, thus no one could decide. many who viewed dared not decide. Many who decided the documentation got stuck. That’s our property market. Just before COVID-19, it was considered as performing in 2019 since the total transactions for 2019 was higher than 2018. 2018 could be considered as the turning point since it showed a marginal increase versus 2017.
So, the government has to do something about it. This is when PENJANA was announced and within PENJANA, there are these 3 measures focused only on the property market.
#1 Home Ownership Campaign 2020 (HOC). This was a truly successful campaign in 2019 and this is now back.
New Property Incentives in 2020 for Malaysian Property under the Penjana Economic Package
#1 – Home Ownership Campaign 2020 (HOC)
- This campaign is applicable for NEW residential properties purchased by Malaysians only. Sorry, foreigners you do not qualify. Sorry, secondary properties are also not applicable.
- Developers who wants to offer their properties under HOC 2020 must provide a minimum of 10% discount and this must be registered with REHDA Malaysia (for Peninsular Malaysia) and SHEDA (Sarawak) and SHAREDA (Sabah)
- All the property transactions under HOC 2020 will get stamp duty exemptions for instruments of transfer for properties priced from RM300,000 – RM2,500,000. The applicable stamp duty is up to RM1,000,000 only.
- Full exemptions are granted for loan agreements signed between 1st June 2020 until 31st May 2021.
#2 – LTV of 70% for 3rd property onwards are now exempted.
Banks could now choose to approve up to 90% loan for the property loan even if the buyer is already buying his 3rd property. Again, this approval is subject to the banks’ own internal risk assessments. **Latest info says that this LTV exemption is ONLY for new properties, not the secondary market. Please ask your respective bankers to find out more.
#3 – Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) exemption
Now, when owners (Malaysians) sell a property between 1st June 2020 to 31st December 2021, any gains arising from the disposal will be exempted from RPGT. This exemption is for UP TO 3 properties from the same owner only. (Okay, how many Malaysians have more than 3 properties to sell? Hands up please)
These are the three measures which worked very well previously. It is now back to do more good for the property market. If you ask me, I think the one which will spur the most number of transactions would be the HOC 2020. The developers would definitely take this opportunity to do their very best to clear all their current stocks. New launches can be later, whatever launched must be cleared first.
RPGT exemption would meanwhile cater more to the secondary market. Sellers who were too concerned about paying the taxes may now be willing to sell because they could save quite a substantial amount of money. Even if the property is over 5 years, the 5% RPGT for a RM500,000 home bought at RM300,000 is still RM10,000. Calculation: (RM500,000 – RM300,000 ) X 5% = RM10,000. Not many people willing to give this RM10,000 away…Happy understanding.
Please LIKE kopiandproperty.my FB page or Sign Up for free to get daily updates about the property market. Else, follow me on Twitter here.
Next suggested article: 10 reasons for property investments? There are more
Leave a Reply