Govt urged to control house price speculation

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been urged to curb house price speculation to protect the interest of those in the low and medium-income group, some of whom have been saving up for years but are unable to afford a home.

Teng Boon Soon (BN-Tebrau) said the government should let healthy market mechanisms to determine the price fluctuations to ensure these groups were able to buy houses without facing much problems.
 
"Although house price speculation has been in existence for quite sometime, it is becoming more rampant lately especially for newly completed houses. For instance a RM1 million house is bought and then promptly sold at RM1.2 million," he said when debating the 2011 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday Oct 20.
 
He said the same situation occurred in the medium-cost housing sector, leaving those earning RM3,000 a month wondering why they could not afford a house.

"These speculators are after profits in a hit-and-run manner. If there is no control, it will put the low and medium-income group at a disadvantage," he said.-Bernama