Rehda says interest on loans from developers will not be in the "teens:

KUALA LUMPUR: The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda), who said interest on its loans will not be in the teens, is proposing a cap of 2% above cost of funding for loans from property developers.
"We have cost of funds, so we are looking at anything that is reasonable, 2% above our cost. We have cost and risk. This is something we are still talking about and waiting for feedback," its president Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor told reporters at a briefing today.
Last week, the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said property developers can obtain money lending licences to offer financing to home buyers with interest rates of up to 12% with collateral and 18% without.
"We are looking at something reasonable, not in the teens. The minister was saying what's in the Moneylenders Act 1951 but we need to look at supply and demand. If you charge too high, people will not come to you," he said.
Fateh said the scheme, if approved by Cabinet, must be realistic and sustainable.
He said Rehda is looking to use the licence to help home buyers who are unable to obtain the desired margin of financing by offering bridger loans. On average, the margin of financing given by banks today is about 75-80%.
Fateh said the scheme definitely has risks and only developers with healthy balance sheets would participate.
Rehda has proposed to limit the loans to first time house buyers who are purchasing homes priced RM500,000 and below. It also suggested to offer the loans to first time upgraders.