PETALING JAYA: The National Property Information Centre (Napic) is bullish on the property market outlook for 2008, underpinned by government initiatives and a steady economy.
“The Government had proposed various measures in Budget 2008 aimed at sustaining the country’s economic growth, in particular, the property industry,” Napic said in its Property Market Report 2007.
The exemption of real property gains tax, and the 50% stamp duty exemption for the purchase of one house of not more than RM250,000, was a promising start.
“This would reduce the cost of purchasing a house by up to RM2,000 and overall costs of acquisition of houses,” it said.
The Government’s efforts in assisting the low-income group, such as implementation of low and medium-cost housing programmes, will also help drive property transactions.
A sum of RM381mil is said to be already allocated for the implementation of low-cost housing programmes.
Realising that housing loan repayment is a major financial commitment for most, the Government is allowing EPF contributors to make monthly withdrawals to ease the financial burden.
With regards to those without fixed income, the Government has also established a fund to provide guarantees to banks providing loans to this group.
According to Napic, the private sector’s role in expediting the transfer of property is also a contributory factor.
“The participation of the private sector in Pemudah (special task force to facilitate business) and the implementation of the certificate of completion and compliance is expected to have positive impact on the local property industry,” it said.
The healthy economic outlook for the country, it said, was also expected to contribute positively to the property market in 2008.
“The Malaysian economy is poised to remain robust in 2008 with real gross domestic product expected to register a 6% to 6.5% growth.
“The optimistic consumer and business confidence in the fourth quarter of 2007 suggests that the Malaysian economy would continue its growth momentum in the future,” it added.
Napic also said the Malaysian property market was buoyant in 2007.
The overall market strengthened with increases in both transaction volume and value, improved sales performance for newly launched housing units and reduced numbers of property overhang.
The market recorded 309,455 transactions valued at RM77.14bil in 2007 compared with 283,897 and RM61.6bil respectively in 2006, registering a transaction volume growth of 9% and value surging 25.2%.
The residential segment was the most dominant segment, making up 64.5% of total volume and 47.3% in transaction value.
By The Star
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