With the drop in demand for expensive housing units, State Housing Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said building affordable housing is the way forward for developers.
Citing data from National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), he noted that 2,383 of the 4,092 unsold units in Q1 2018 were priced at RM500,000 and above.
Of the 2,383 units, 901 were priced at RM1 million and above while 1,482 units were offered at above RM1.5 million, reported Free Malaysia Today.
“Don’t come and complain, ‘there is an overhang, we can’t sell’. I have been telling developers to help us build affordable housing,” he said.
“Statistics show building affordable homes is the way forward. If you want to build high-end, then you will have to wait. You build high-end units at your own peril.”
Jagdeep believes that NAPIC’s definition of unsold units is too short. According to NAPIC, unsold units are those that have not been sold nine months following completion.
“Nine months might be too short for some developers to sell all off their units, so perhaps the metrics should change,” he said.
To provide a clearer picture of the unsold units, NAPIC should categorise based on “regular-priced” and “affordable housing-priced”.
Currently, all unsold units are taken together regardless of price or type for Penang, when the data should be differentiated between non-affordable and affordable categories.
Meanwhile, Jagdeep urged the housing and local government ministry to follow Penang’s move in reducing the ceiling price of affordable homes to RM300,000 from RM500,000.
“A study should be conducted to assist the lower income group, especially to aid first-time home buyers. And one way is to reduce the ceiling prices.”
He also welcomed Putrajaya’s decision in excluding cement, steel and sand from the sales and service tax (SST).
Jagdeep had earlier announced that the state government of Penang would hold an affordable housing expo from 18 to 19 August at Prangin Mall, George Town.
The expo will see 13 developers, including federal home developers PR1MA and state development arm Penang Development Corporation (PDC), showcasing about 6,000 residential properties priced from RM200,000 to RM400,000.
Image sourced from Bernama
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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