This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 27, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The federal and state government housing agencies will be offering over 100,000 units of homes throughout Malaysia through the nationwide home expo known as “Ekspo Jualan Perumahan — Ke Arah Sejuta Impian, Alami Gaya Hidup Sejahtera”.

The expo will display the offerings by the various agencies, namely 1Malaysia People’s  Housing Scheme (PR1MA), Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB), National Housing Department (NHD), 1Malaysia Housing Projects for Civil Servants (PPA1M) and the state government agencies, making it the largest housing expo in Malaysia to date.

PR1MA group chief executive Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias said the expo will kick off in Perak on March 1, with about 38,000 units on sale in the state.

He said PR1MA accounts for the bulk of the homes, with 20,000 units on offer, followed by the Lembaga Perumahan dan Hartanah Perak (7,000 units), SPNB (5,700 units), NHD (3,000 units) and PPA1M (2,000 units). About 74% of these units are priced below RM250,000.

“The idea is to provide a platform for the public to come and see the diversity of products offered by the different agencies. We want to provide the choice for the people,” he told a press conference yesterday.

In total, he said there will be more than 100,000 units offered across the country, but could not give the breakdown for each state, as the agencies are still compiling the relevant data to assess demand.

He said the demand for affordable housing is healthy, judging from the 1.5 million online registrations PR1MA has seen so far.