Mah Sing: MyDeposit good for homebuyers and us

PETALING JAYA (April 7): The First Home Deposit Funding Scheme (MyDeposit) is a good move to increase home ownership among Malaysians and will also benefit Mah Sing Group Bhd as the company offers a number of properties that qualify for the scheme, said its group managing director and group chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum in a press release today.

“This scheme effective April 1 this year will benefit a lot of first-time homebuyers to start building their asset base and at the same time, own a house as well,” said Leong.

The MyDeposit scheme, which was announced in Budget 2016 to assist the middle income group, was implemented yesterday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Those with a household income of below RM10,000 and seeking to buy houses priced up to RM500,000 are eligible for the scheme.

The scheme entails a government grant of either 10% of the cost of the property, or a maximum of RM30,000 – whichever is lower.

“This will directly benefit Mah Sing as we have about 70% first-time home buyers aged below 40 years old. Furthermore, almost half of our residential launches in 2016 are priced below RM500,000, making half our potential buyers eligible to apply for the MyDeposit scheme,” said Leong.

Among Mah Sing’s products which fit in the category include the Cerrado serviced apartments in Southville City @ KL South, which are indicatively priced from RM368,000, and the Cendana apartments in M Residence 2 at Rawang, which are priced at RM170,000 in the central region.

Meanwhile in the southern region, some of the projects which fit into the category include the Meridin Sovo in Meridin @ Medini priced from RM401,000 and the Austin Suites in Austin Perdana priced from RM455,000.

According to Leong, although there is currently a big gap in housing supply in Malaysia, most developers are scaling back on launches because buyers have difficulty in coming up with the differential sum and face challenges in obtaining end financing.

“The National Property Information Centre, CEIC and Bank Negara Malaysia have reported that there needs to be a supply of new houses by 200,000 annually from 2016 to 2020 to match the estimated growth in households. All stakeholders including developers, bankers and the government need to work closely to manage the demands of the public for housing,” he added.

Leong added that banks should also consider extending the loan tenure for first-time home buyers, instead of adopting a blanket approval of a maximum 30 years for all borrowers.

“Apart from the government’s initiative to offer 100% financing for My First Home Scheme and 110% financing for PR1MA housing, perhaps the banks could also consider extending a 100% loan financing for first-time home buyers,” he said.

“We also echo the Real Estate Developers and Housing Association’s suggestion that the Developers Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS) should be allowed for first-time home buyers so that they do not have to pay interest on loans and rental on their property during the construction of their homes,” he noted.

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