Malaysian home ownership scheme extended until December

Six months more of stamp duty exemptions and discounts for first-time home buyers

In a bid to help first-time home buyers, Malaysia is extending the National Home Ownership Campaign 2019 (HOC 2019) for an additional six months.

The scheme, which also aims to mitigate the housing overhang, will be open until 31 December, the Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced Sunday.

The HOC period had been set to expire on 1 July.

Under the campaign, buyers will enjoy discounts of as low as 10 percent on unit sale prices, given the properties cost between MYR300,000 AND MYR2.5 million (USD72,500-604,400).

The Ministry of Housing and Local Government collaborated with developers all over the country to roll out the privileges. Participating developers include those in the Real Estate & Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia, Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda), and Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda).

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The government has also made available incentives for first home purchases, Lim revealed. Starter homes costing up to MYR300,000 are eligible for a stamp duty exemption on Memorandum of Transfer and loan agreement. Units priced between MYR300,000 and MYR500,000 are also eligible for the same stamp duty exemption, only limited to the first MYR300,000 of the home price, noted the MalayMail.

Stamp duty exemptions are additionally available for units on the secondary market or those not offered by participating developers.

“HOC has received a positive reception from the public as the stamp duty exemption incentives and discounts of at least 10 per cent were able to reduce the cost of home ownership especially for Malaysians who have never owned a house,” said Guan Eng.

The number of unsold homes in Malaysia stood at 2,313 units, with a value of MYR19.86 billion, in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the National Property Information Centre (Napic).