KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): The Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) Malaysia president Datuk Soam Heng Choon has urged the government to make end-financing more accessible to homebuyers and standardise the Bumiputera quota units release mechanism nationwide to solve the property overhang problem and encourage homeownership.

“As announced in the recent Budget 2019, the stamp duty waiver for homes valued between RM300,001 and RM1 million is a good move but it won’t help [encourage homeownership] if homebuyers can’t get end-financing to own the house,” he said in his speech during the Rehda Annual Dinner tonight.

He noted that unsold properties are the main concern for developers and the association is actively engaging with the Housing and Local Government and Finance ministries to find solutions.

To fix the problem, Soam said a standardised Bumiputera quota units release mechanism nationwide will help reduce unsold units.

Currently, every state has different requirements on Bumiputera unit allocations while their release mechanisms vary.

Besides this, a lack of market supply data is also one of the reasons causing overhang properties, Soam explained.

“Currently, we do not have centralised housing data that includes all types of properties. We are glad that there will be an agency which will collect all the market demand and supply data across all government agencies. This data which includes planning supply and unsold properties will help developers to make informed decisions,” he stressed.

As for the government’s effort in providing rent-to-own properties for homebuyers, Soam noted that there’s a need to accelerate the enactment of the Tenancy Act as it will create more vibrancy to the housing market and encourage the bottom 10% and bottom 20% group to own their own homes.