KUCHING, Nov 7: Despite the biggest budget in the national history totalling RM322.5 billion announced by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz yesterday, there were fewer incentives to stimulate the property market under Budget 2021.
As a result, Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) Kuching branch’s chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok believed that the property sector will remain lacklustre for the coming year.
“There are no other initiatives in this budget for the property sector such as ‘My 1st Home’ (ownership) grant to help out in the deposit, no stamp duties waiver for other types of properties, no Real Property Gains Tax waiver for property more than five years.
“Thus, we can expect a slow year for the property sector.
“On the proposal to increase homeownership, the federal government is waiving off the stamp duties for the instrument of transfer and loan agreement for first time home buyers up to RM500,000.
“This exemption is from January 2021 until December 2025.
“This will help in assisting our property market in Sarawak which is very slow since the Movement Control Order (MCO) in March this year as market uncertainties, and job security have affected the demand of houses,” he said in a statement.
Sim noted the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) which is ongoing until the middle of next year is generating some interest in the property market.
On the incentive of stamp duties exemption given to rescue contractors and original house purchasers being extended for another five years, Sim asserted that the incentive is more applicable to West Malaysia.
He noted that there are not many abandoned housing projects in Sarawak.
On another note, Sim who is also a director of Sim Swee Yong Development and Construction Sdn Bhd hoped that property developers in Sarawak will benefit from the construction of some government housing programmes.
They include 14,000 units of the Project Perumahan Rakyat valued at RM500 million, 3,000 units of Rumah Mesra Rakyat by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) valued at RM315 million, RM125 million for the repair of dilapidated houses and RM310 million for Malaysian civil servant housing programme.
Similarly, Sim also hoped that Sarawak will benefit from some of the allocations for the rent to own scheme for 5,000 Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA) houses with selected financial institutions with a total value of RM1 billion for first time home buyers. —DayakDaily
