Prices of houses in Sabah set to rise

The Star 03/03/2006

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah house prices are set to increase by as much as 10% in the wake of escalating costs of fuel and raw materials as well as freight charges.

Sabah Housing Developers Association secretary Susan Wong said the price rise would affect buyers of houses which were earmarked for construction by the middle of the year.

“This increase is inevitable as the prices of construction materials have escalated. Freight charges from the peninsula alone have gone up by 30% over the past few months,” she said yesterday.

Wong was among housing industry officials attending a briefing on the Sabah Structure Plan 2020. Also present was state Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Hajiji Mohd Noor.

Wong said the price increase was unlikely to dampen demand for medium-cost houses, particularly those in the RM100,000 to RM150,000 range.

“A key factor for this is that buyers can still obtain 95% to 100% financing for these type of houses,” Wong added.

Meanwhile, Hajiji said his ministry was studying the long-term impact of the 30 sen fuel price hike on the construction of low-cost houses in the state.