PETALING JAYA: Housing
developers generally welcome the Government’s move yesterday to relax the
rules for foreigners to purchase high-end residential properties in the
country.
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Ng Seing Liong
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The Prime Minister’s office said in a statement yesterday that foreigners
would be allowed to buy residential properties worth more than RM250,000
each without approval from the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) and also
lifted the restrictions on usage and number of units.
Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia president Ng
Seing Liong said the association appreciated the Government’s efforts in
encouraging foreign investment in Malaysian residential properties.
“Without restrictions on use and number of units purchased, foreigners
are no longer limited to purchasing property for their own occupation only,
but for wider purposes.
“Property developers would also find it easier to market their products
outside the country. We hope this move would encourage more foreigners to
take up Malaysian homes,” he said in a statement.
Ng urged the state authorities to complement the new guidelines by
increasing their efficiency in granting approvals for property transfers to
foreign purchases. He also emphasised that such information should be
disseminated effectively and widely to foreigners.
“Finally, we hope the Government would continue to seek positive ways to
liberalise the market for foreign investments to encourage capital inflows
for greater economic growth,” Ng added.
Mah Sing Group Bhd managing director Datuk Leong Hoy Kum said the move
was timely as it would boost the property market in tandem with all the
other catalysts the Government was currently embarking on under the Ninth
Malaysia Plan.
“We believe this will definitely boost sales of our medium, medium-high
and high-end properties, especially the Legenda series, which starts from
RM1.3mil, the Residence series, priced from RM700,000 to RM1.3mil and the
Perdana Series, costing RM200,000 to RM700,000,” he said.
Some 98% of the group’s high-end niche development, Damansara Legenda in
Petaling Jaya, has been taken up while 95% of its Perdana Residence in
Selayang, was taken up within two weeks of its launch in September.
Dijaya Corp Bhd group managing director P.K. Poh said the move was a step
in the right direction.
“It’s a start but we do not foresee a flood of foreign investors coming
in. We hope there will be a snowball effect later on,” he said.
Poh urged the Government to open up the property market by further easing
the rules on the need for state authority approvals.
“Buying property is a long-term investment so the Government must instil
confidence in foreign buyers by ensuring that rules that have been relaxed
will not be re-enforced in the short term,” he added.
Sunrise Bhd chief marketing officer Lee Meng Tuck said the relaxation on
FIC ruling was a positive step towards encouraging foreign ownership of
Malaysian residential properties.
However, it would be more effective if state authority approvals for
these purchases were to be abolished as well, he added. |
