KINIBIZ Given the spike in house prices since 2009 and household income which has not risen in tandem, it is no wonder that the current housing conundrum is probably something unheard of in previous generations.

Realising that affordable home is what sells in the current market environment, many property developers are also gradually shifting their focus to the affordable housing space. But a gap still exists between what first-time homebuyers can afford and what developers deem as ‘affordable’.

A Bursa-listed property developer that KINIBIZ spoke to revealed that what it considers ‘affordable housing’ - houses costing below RM500,000.

The result is a mismatch in expectations of what is deemed affordable by the lower- and middle-income groups, and that of policy makers, financial institutions and property developers.

“For too long, the government has listened to the advice from business groups with vested interests, who say that there is no problem with the housing sector in Malaysia and that prospective homebuyers are still able to buy their dream homes,” according to National House Buyers Association’s (HBA) secretary-general Chang Kim Loong.

“These business groups have openly touted that property prices of up to RM500,000 are deemed affordable for first-time homebuyers. For homebuyers who are upgrading their existing property, the price that is deemed affordable is up to RM1 million,” he said.

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