Budget 2023 moves for homeownership will spur property market - groups

Budget 2023 measures to further ease homeownership among first-time homebuyers will complement the previously announced 100 percent stamp duty exemption for the memorandum of transfer for houses priced RM500,000 and below until end-2025.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz told Parliament today that stamp duty exemption would be increased to 75 percent from 50 percent for residential properties priced above RM500,000 to RM1 million, which would end on Dec 31, 2023.

"The government’s generosity to only impose a RM10 stamp duty for transfers made by way of gift between family members is also expected to provide positive impact to the housing sector," Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) president NK Tong said in a statement following the Budget 2023 announcement today.

Currently, only transfers between husband and wife are given 100 percent exemption, while transfers between parent and child is given an exemption of 50 percent.

Meanwhile, future homebuyers would also benefit from the RM3 billion allocation for Syarikat Jaminan Kredit Perumahan Bhd (SJKP) for 12,000 borrowers, which will surely provide some relief to those without a fixed income, such as gig economy workers.

Moreover, the government's renewed commitment to the lower income group with the RM367 million allocation for new People’s Housing Project (PPR) projects in Terengganu and Perlis, and RM358 million for Program Rumah Mesra Rakyat would benefit over 16,000 B40 households.

Future homeowners to benefit

"The measure to increase the allocation to construct and repair houses in rural areas from RM361 million to RM460 million, the increased ceiling rate to build new homes and the construction of 3,000 new homes including in Sabah and Sarawak further prove the government’s dedication to ensure quality living and homes for all Malaysians," Tong said.

However, Rehda appealed to the government to consider extending the 75 percent stamp duty exemption to all buyers and not just first-time house buyers to benefit a wider pool of buyers, especially the upgraders.

Apart from that, he said the association also expected bigger measures to alleviate some of the developers’ concerns such as the hike in building material prices and labour shortage issues.

PropertyGuru Malaysia (propertyguru.com.my and iProperty.com.my) country manager Sheldon Fernandez said the stamp duty discounts would further spur the property market as there was dampened sentiment in the past two years, according to studies.

The property marketplace also aimed to work closely with property developers to provide accessible homes for future homebuyers on the government's target to build 500,000 affordable housing units by 2025.

Extending stamp duty exemption to all buyers

"Related to this, our findings have shown that when it comes to applying for affordable housing programmes, three in five find the choice of homes not attractive, particularly among non-property owners, younger and low income Malaysians.

"We hope the government will take into consideration the needs of Malaysians to ensure that the low-cost housing projects being built will not go to waste and further contribute to property overhang issues in the country," said Fernandez as he also looks forward to the housing units worth RM358 million that will be built under the Rumah Mesra Rakyat programme.

More also could be done to support green and resilient urban development.

On this, it urged the government to consider incentivising developers to adopt accredited green certification tools to promote green development and continue to push different industries to do their part in becoming more environmentally friendly.

- Bernama

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