Industry stakeholders have become sceptical as to the implementation of the new RM1 million (S$382,000) price floor for foreign property purchases.
“The market seems to have assumed that it’s not implemented and I’ve heard that developers are still selling properties below RM1 million to foreign buyers…The rules is still iffy and it seems that it has not been gazetted yet,” said Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) President Siva Shanker.
Announced in October last year by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, the new ruling was expected to take effect on 1 January 2014.
However, a media report last month revealed that the implementation of the new ruling may be pushed to May since it has yet to be gazetted.
Veena Loh, General Manager at Malaysia Property Inc (MPI), noted that there have been no updates regarding the new ruling while information is scarce.
Hence, the previous RM500,000 minimum price for foreign property purchases still stands.
A unit under the purview of the Economic Planning Unit, MPI is tasked to connect foreign investors, both private and corporate, with real estate investment opportunities within the country.
Meanwhile, Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the new ruling will be implemented as soon as possible this year.
“It has not been officially implemented but it is only February. There are some legalistic tweaks that need to be done. We will implement it this year,” he said recently.
Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru Malaysia, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
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