The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) has refuted allegations that banks needed up to 90 days to approve housing loans.

Typically, banks take two to nine working days to process complete housing loan applications, including appeals, said ABM, according to Bernama.

"An applicant who does not submit complete documentation will cause a delay in the approval process. For unsuccessful applicants, they are generally informed of the status of their applications within one to two working days.

"Therefore, the 60 to 90 days taken for loan approval as stated by Real Estate and Housing Developers Association are not reflective of the speedy approval process of housing loans by banks," it said.

Last month, a news report quoted Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) president FD Iskandar Mohamed Mansor claiming developers were complaining about the lengthy loan application process and high rejection rate.

This, he claimed, had led to a lower supply of new homes and more new unsold units.

However, ABM said that loan approval rates remain high at 73 percent as of the second quarter of 2017.

"Furthermore, 72 percent of the housing loan borrowers are first-time house owners under the affordable home category.

"For the first eight months of 2017, commercial banks approved over RM42.2 billion and disbursed approximately RM39.5 billion in loans for the purchase of residential properties.

"Financing, therefore, remains available for eligible borrowers," it said.