SHAH ALAM (Sept 21): The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) is conducting a case study on building costs after the implementation of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) regime.

The case study is meant to understand the cost structure of homes post SST, and whether the cost of construction will be reduced.

The result of the study will be announced as soon as possible, said Rehda president Datuk Soam Heng Choon.

In August, the Finance Ministry announced that certain building materials such as cement, bricks and some steel products will be exempted from SST. The market then anticipated that home prices would fall following this new policy.

Soam, however, noted that the cost of building a home is more than just building materials as there are other costs.

“Project development costs include land cost, infrastructure development and [opportunity] cost on land surrendered for community usage, such as facilities floor and community hall. After deducting these, the buildable area left is around 45%,” he said during his speech at the opening ceremony of Bumiputera Property Expo (Bumi Mapex) 2018 today.

Organised by Rehda, the Bumi Mapex committee is headed by the association’s past president Datuk Ng Seing Liong.

“The objective of Bumi Mapex is to encourage bumiputera homeownership through provision of a platform for property developers to showcase the bumiputera units with special package for bumiputera buyers who are looking for properties,” Ng said.

The three-day expo which started today is being held at Shah Alam Convention Centre (10.30am to 7pm).

Twenty-three developers, financial institutions and government agencies are participating in the event.

Besides property showcases, there will also be family activities and property talks by real estate industry experts.