While the Malaysian government is very much focused on issues involving affordable housing, some participants of the EdgeProp.my Budget 2020 Survey are hoping that Putrajaya would not ignore the needs of the middle-income group and the elderly.

Property owners who are looking for buyers on the secondary market seem to find themselves on the losing end when they compete with developers offering attractive packages for their products.

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The entry costs in purchasing a sub-sale property is generally not as attractive as buying from the primary market.

Hence, some respondents of the EdgeProp.my Budget 2020 survey are hoping that the government’s stamp duty exemptions now applicable to primary market residential transactions, will be extended to secondary market transactions, especially for first-time homebuyers regardless of property value.

Currently, only the first RM300,000 of the price of a secondary residential property transaction are exempted from stamp duty on Memorandum of Transfer and Loan Agreement.

Some respondents also suggested that the government allow property buyers to use their Employees Provident Fund as collaterals when applying for housing loans. “The focus shouldn’t be just on the B40 group. The middle-income earners also need financial assistance to buy a house,” said one of the respondents.

To further stimulate secondary market transactions, there was also a proposal to remove the Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio of 70% for the third housing loan for buyers who have the financial ability to service the monthly instalment.

The government was also reminded not to forget the welfare of senior citizens. The respondents suggested help for pensioners to own a house and introduction of affordable elderly community homes with nursing assistance.

This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my pullout on Oct 4, 2019. You can access back issues here.

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