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iProperty: Cooling Measures Have Little Impact To Curb Rising Property Prices

Last update: 02/03/2017

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- The various cooling measures introduced by the government and Bank Negara Malaysia to curb escalating property prices have little impact as the national House Price Index (HPI) continues to rise.

In a statement here today, iProperty.com Malaysia, the country's leading property website, said the according to its findings, the IPI continued to climb at double digits by 15.3 index points in the first quarter last year while the financial sector on housing loans fell 23.24 per cent.

Chief Executive Officer for Malaysia and Singapore, Haresh Khoobchandani, said when the National Higher Education Fund Corp started listing borrowers who had never paid back their loans into Central Credit Reference Information System, there were 30 per cent loan rejections in 2016.

"The performance for residential loans approved fell drastically by RM5.6 billion from first quarter 2015 to first quarter 2016, but HPI continued to rise," he said.

However, he said, the various measures introduced appeared to have consolidated the financial sector and reduced the negative sentiments of oversupplied housing market.

He said while it was unlikely for prices to decrease, they were likely to stabilise or increase at a slower rate in coming years due to the growing young adult population.

"With the real estate industry now consolidating, the industry may shift its focus towards developments that are more focused towards affordable living.

"Infrastructures such as transportation, energy and social infrastructure help to increase economic efficiency and reduce the cost of living, thus making locations that once seems expensive to live in nor more affordable," he said.

-- BERNAMA