Standardise foreign property investment guidelines to attract foreigners, says MIEA

KUALA LUMPUR: There is a need to standardise guidelines on foreign property investments throughout the country to encourage more foreigners to invest in the local property sector, said Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) president Julie Wong.

In a phone interview, Wong said foreign investors are often confused over the constantly changing rules and criteria for buying residential property as they often vary from state to state.

She cited an example when the minimum selling price of residential properties for foreign buyers was raised to RM500,000 from RM250,000 two months ago in Selangor. However, “it is back to RM250,000 now. We really hope there is a way such rulings can be standardised in future”, Wong told theedgeproperty.com

Wong said MIEA members deal a lot with foreign property buyers hence a standard set of rules which apply nationwide would make the task of handling sales and enquiries from foreigners easier,” she said. 

In order to safeguard the interests of local buyers, she proposed that the minimum selling price for residential properties be capped at a minimum of RM250,000 and RM1 million for commercial properties.