RM1m floor price for foreign property buyers effective May 1, says Johor MB

by **Cals** Mon 03 Mar 2014, 08:13

[size=33]RM1m floor price for foreign property buyers effective May 1, says Johor MB[/size]

Posted on 3 March 2014 - 05:36am

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[size=14]PETALING JAYA: Johor appears to have set its own date of implementation for the increase in minimum threshold of foreign property ownership to RM1 million, with the Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin telling Bernama over the weekend that it will be imposed effective May 1, 2014.

Last week SunBiz reported that property agents and industry players were sceptical of the implementation of the new floor price of RM1 million for foreign property purchases considering that no updates have been given on the matter.

Minsiter of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan when speaking to SunBiz could not give a timeline for implementation, only saying that it will be done this year.

Last Saturday however, Bernama reported that Mohamed Khaled had said that developers with planning permission for projects approved before May 1, 2014 are allowed to sell to foreigners at the pre-set prices.

"For those projects with approved planning permission (before May 1), we are giving time to developers to sell the houses, so as to not impact the development," he added.

Mohamed Khaled had reportedly said that the measure is to avoid a situation of unsold or abandoned houses as result of there being no takers.

He was speaking to reporters after officiating the pre-launch and registration of affordable homes at Nusajaya, Johor developed by UEM Sunrise Bhd.

During his Budget 2014 Speech in October last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced several new measures for the housing industry, one of which was the increase in minimum price for foreign property purchases from RM500,000 to RM1 million. It was assumed that the new ruling would be enforced on Jan 1, 2014.

However in January it was reported that the rule was yet to be implemented as it was waiting to be gazetted.

To-date no update have been given on the process involved in gazetting the rule.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Mohamed Khaled said 28,000 low cost and affordable homes would be built over the next five years.

"A total of 20,000 units will be built in Iskandar Malaysia and the rest in other places that have been identified, including in the rural areas," he added.

Of the 20,000 units, half the number would be built by UEM Sunrise.

"To facilitate the process, the people can forward their applications (to the state government) for purchase of the houses at any time.

"This is so that we can gauge the actual demand for affordable housing as well as the desired locations," Mohamed Khaled said.
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