Property market to stay vibrant

Post date: Jul 31, 2010 3:26:47 PM

MALAYSIA'S property market is due to stay vibrant in 2010 due to low borrowing costs, easier foreign ownership rules and a new home purchase scheme by the nation's biggest pension fund.

Last year, there was a 0.7 per cent drop in the total number of property transactions but the number of unsold properties fell by 13 per cent for residential units.

"This shows that the property market in Malaysia is more resilient and stable, especially in demand locations such as in the Klang Valley," said Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Wira Chor Chee Heung.

He spoke at the opening of a three-day property fair organised by iProperty.com in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The total number of property transactions dropped 0.7 per cent to 337,859 in 2009 from 340,240 in 2008. The bulk of it came from the housing market, making up 63 per cent of the total deals and 52 per cent in terms of value.

"The total number of launches reduced only slightly from 48,830 units to 45,909 units in 2009, possibly due to some cautiousness among some developers. Selangor and Johor remains the leading states with 8,430 units and 7,099 units respectively," he said. Speaking to reporters later, Chor lauded the Employees Provident Fund's (EPF) latest move, which would boost the local housing industry.From August 1, EPF will launch a flexible withdrawal scheme for higher-end houses.The scheme is open to contributors who have not made withdrawals under the existing scheme to buy a house or reduce their housing loans.According to the EPF, the main difference of the new scheme is that it is designed to give qualifying members, who initially were not eligible for a higher loan, a better chance to boost their loan eligibility.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/homechor/Article/