The proposal to cut housing loans by 10% from the current cap of 90% should only be imposed on houses costing over RM500,000, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.
He said this was to ensure that the low and middle-income groups could afford to own houses.
“Buyers who purchase houses below RM500,000 should be allowed some flexibility in choosing whether to take the proposed 80% or the original 90% loans,” he said in a press statement yesterday.
A flexible loan cap based on house prices, Dr Chua said, would better protect house buyers, although the proposed loan cap would help stabilise house prices especially in some parts of the Klang Valley and Penang.
“I urge Bank Negara to conduct a thorough study before implementing the new measure to ensure healthy growth in the housing industry,” he said.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said the Government would not rush into a decision on the proposal.
He said the Government would collect more views and suggestions from various groups on the proposal, which was floated by Bank Negara as a way to curb excessive speculation on property prices.
“We are willing to listen to more views from concerned groups, including potential house buyers and stakeholders, because people have different opinions of the proposal.
“We will study the views before making a final review to the existing guidelines,” he said, adding that the Government had no plans to make any adjustment yet.
Several groups, including the National House Buyers’ Association and the Federation of Malaysian Consumers’ Association (Fomca), had cautioned that the proposed loan reduction to 80% would only be a burden to potential house buyers.
They said such a proposal would go against the Government’s plans to encourage home ownership. - The Star
Mike's thoughts -
ReplyDelete"I do think of this as a very good move!
As they say, 'kill 2 birds with one stone'
One one hand, this move would greatly slow down speculators in the market and secondly, young people like me still can afford to buy property in future (though I enjoy viewing them and selling them, i actually DO need to purchase one someday! :P )
What do you guys think ?
I think this is not a good move. It may be good to the rich but not good to the younger generation.We will see something like this ,the rich will buy up properties and rent out to the younger professionals. Isn't this a fantastic way to make money on rentals. The young professional definately can't fork up so much money for deposit so what can they do? RENT. It's a pity that they can't get a "home" and enjoy throughout their life.
ReplyDeleteI really hope they would do this 80% loan thing as this is not a good move.