Right tonic to stimulate stagnant property market, says Fiabci

GEORGE TOWN: The International Real Estate Federation (Fiabci) has praised the incentives unveiled under Budget 2019, saying it is the necessary tonic to stimulate a property market which has stagnated for the past two years.
FIABCI president Michael Geh said the stimulus packages such as more borrowing accessibility and minimising some ill effects from the public debt are the right tonic to generate activities in the market.
"Some say the property prices are up, others say down. As far as I am concerned the most important element is generating activities. This Budget has shown the desire to make things happen in the market. It is a positive thing," Geh said after attending a morning talk session on Budget 2019, which was organised by FIABCI at the Gurney Paragon Mall earlier today.
The main speaker, Loh Chye Teik, who is an accountant, provided an insightful account.
On the innovative financing package called "peer-to-peer" finance, Geh said the government is adopting a new form of funding to help buyers purchase their dream homes in a condition where real estate prices continue to be steep.
Also getting the National Mortgage Corporation (Cagamas) Bhd to offer government guarantees for home buyers to finance companies was a positive move as some 200,000 applicants stand to benefit from the RM500 million set aside by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to underwrite affordable home purchases by first time buyers, he said.
Geh spoke of the "multiplier" effects that more activities in the property market would generate to the economy, saying more lawyers would be needed to seal sales and purchase agreements, and more contracting work would emerge.
Earlier Loh said that there is a degree of an inheritance tax felt if companies end up disposing of properties rather than personal sale of it.
But the tax is not painful, although there is a need to understand its mechanism, he said.
Loh also said the players in the property market need to take cognizance of the efforts of the Master Builders Association to weather the transition from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the Sales and Services Tax (SST).
Penang FIABCI chapter chairman Tan Sri Alex Ooi Kee Liang urged the authorities to entice more foreigners to invest in the property market, saying the RM1 million and above the ceiling for foreign ownership was an affordable figure for most international investors to consider.
Ooi also said there is a need to address the glut on shop lots here.