Property Specialist in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

PETALING JAYA -  The property development sector will face some challenges this year with new measures coming into effect but the volume of transactions is likely to be adequate in ensuring stability in the market, said Etiqa Insurance & Takaful head of research Chris Eng. "Looking at fundamentals, the property market will still be okay this year, especially for landed properties. There have been measures to remove speculation but these do not really affect landed properties," he told  SunBiz  in an interview. Some of the measures announced in Budget 2014 include the banning of Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS), increase in real property gains tax (RPGT) and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in April 2015. Effective today, property developers will no longer be able to offer DIBS to buyers and the RPGT rate will be 30% for gains on properties sold within the first three years while disposals in the fourth and fifth years will be 20%...

With three major policies detailed in the 2014 Budget set to be put into effect between January 2014 and April 2015, the property market is set to deal with an array of changes. The biggest and arguably most discussed, policy is the increase of the Real Property Gainers Tax (RPGT) from 15% for two years to a whopping 30% for a period of three years. The banning of the Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS) and Goods & Services Tax (GST) are also set in place. We take a look at both sides of the coin before its looming implementation. Doubling the RPGT At a glance it may seem that the RPGT will hit first-time home buyers the most, but a closer look will reveal that property ‘flippers’ will be the ones who feel the pinch most. Increasing the rate of 15% for two years to 30% for three years effectively removes the convenience of buying and selling properties for a quick profit. Disposals after four years and five years will be increased to 20% and 15% respectively. This increa...

Property sector-wise, expecting only RPGT hikes for Budget-2014 . For the upcoming Budget-2014’s potential impact on property sector, we are only expecting RPGT hikes (30% from 15% for properties sold within 2 years, 15% from 10% for properties sold within the 3-4 years, 10% remains unchanged for properties sold in the 5th year and zero RPGT for properties sold in the 6th year onwards). We believe this has been largely been discounted and priced-in somewhat, but we do expect some slight knee-jerk reactions for a couple of weeks post announcement. We do not expect any other overly harsh measures (e.g. stamp duty hikes, banking measures) as these may have severe repercussions on the economy. Historically, the government only implements one drastic fiscal measure within a year. This also applies to Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) measures and so far, we have already seen one i.e. reduced mortgage tenures to 35 years from 45 years in Jul-13. We also expect more measures on increasing afford...

Find out if you are eligible to apply for a PR1MA home. As long as you fulfil these basic requirements, you could be a proud homeowner of PR1MA. You must be a Malaysian citizen Malaysian citizens (Single or Married) aged 21 and above Individual or Combined household income (Husband & Wife) between RM2,500 – RM7,500 Own no more than 1 property between you and your spouse, if any Do you fit within the eligibility criteria? Apply for your PR1MA home now Note: PR1MA homes will be allocated through an open balloting process. Selection of house units by the successful balloted owner will be based on the balloting sequence. A 10-year moratorium will be imposed, during which the property cannot be sold or transferred to another party without prior approval from PR1MA. PR1MA homes must be owner occupied.

Guests looking at a model of the Taman Molek affordable apartment blocks at the launch of the project by Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin. -- PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK JOHOR BARU - The Johor state government will clear a backlog of thousands of low-cost and affordable houses by finishing the projects itself and sending the bill to errant developers. State housing and local government exco member Abd Latiff Bandi said the decision comes following a rising demand for such houses within Iskandar Malaysia, one of the country's most successful economic corridors, The Star reported. Construction of nearly 180,000 low-cost units has been approved by the Johor government since 1999, but only 21,000 have been completed so far. Developers have reportedly ignored low-cost projects in favour of constructing luxury houses to rake in profits. "We are in the midst of gathering details on errant developers within Iskandar Malaysia through the various district offi...

IWH, JCorp To Jointly Build 8,300 Affordable Houses Under PR1MA Johor Corporation (JCorp) and Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) will jointly develop 8,300 units of affordable houses under the  1Malaysia Housing Programme (PR1MA) .  The 8,300 new houses, the construction of which will begin late this year and completed by late 2015, will be made available to eligible applicants in nine locations within the  Johor Bahru  district. IWH Managing Director Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo said there would be a good choice of apartments, townhouses or detached single-storey houses to match individual budgets and family requirements. “The location of the projects in sub-urban areas was carefully selected for easy accessibility to the city here and to provide a ready pool of labour to neighbouring industries and the services sector, ” he said in a statement. The houses would be built in prime locations with good road connectivity and public amenities, he added. A com...

WEALTH EFFECT: With 9,000 condominium units slated to complete by 2018, the mammoth Country Garden Danga Bay (CGDB) project by Chinese top 10 developer, Country Garden Holdings Ltd is being hailed as a watershed moment for Iskandar. How would it impact other local developments? Country Garden Holdings, China’s seventh largest property developer and ranked 783rd in Forbes list of Global 2000 companies has just made an indelible mark on the Malaysian property market with its recent high-profile launch of its waterfront development CGDB in Iskandar, Johor Bahru with a GDV (Gross Development Value) of RM18 billion. According to Michael Ong, Country Garden Properties Sales Supervisor, response to the project has been overwhelming. On offer are 33 blocks of condo and 11 blocks of apartments comprising serviced apartments and condos with one, two and three bedrooms. Prices range between RM720 – RM1,100 per sq ft, translating to an average price range (before discount) of RM450,000 to RM...