HBA: Be ready to make sacrifices if you want to buy a home today

SERI KEMBANGAN (April 23): If you want to buy a home in today’s market, you must be ready to make sacrifices, said National House Buyers' Association (HBA) honorary-secretary general Datuk Chang Kim Loong.

“Buying a house is not as easy as it was a decade ago. House buyers must be prepared to make sacrifices – forgo those latest gadgets in the market and expensive coffee from hipster cafes. They should also set aside 10% to 20% of the monthly pay as savings for the purchase of the house and use public transport,” he told the audience during a panel discussion at the National Housing and Property Focus Summit 2019 organised by Kingsley Strategic Institute today.

He added that aspiring house buyers should ensure that they have a comfortable debt-service ratio (DSR) which banks use to gauge their loan eligibility.

“You should perhaps consider not to buy a car until you get a house because the car loan will affect your housing loan repayment ability,” he continued.

Amidst the high home prices and the inability of many to qualify for a loan, renting is a much easier proposition, he noted.

“Young Malaysians should not dismiss the idea of renting as an alternative, especially since the oversupply of property has created a renter’s market.

“There are plenty of properties completed but left vacant because owners are now chasing tenants. Rental vacancies are rising due to the surge in completed stratified properties left unoccupied,” he said.

The session entitled “The Affordable Housing Debate: Home Ownership or Rental – The Way Forward” was moderated by EdgeProp.my managing director and editor-in-chief Au Foong Yee.

Also on the panel was Selangor State Housing and Urban Living exco Haniza Mohamed Talha, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) Dr Carmelo Ferlito and National Housing Department policy and strategic planning division assistant director Wan Nur Amirah.