Adnan said the moratorium was to prevent buyers from speculating on prices.

“We do not want the people to sell the houses which they bought at a lower price, compared with the market’s price,” he told reporters after launching Residensi Seri Wahyu, a Rumawip project here.

He was responding to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s statement on Jan 17 that the resale moratorium on 1Malaysia People’s Housing programme (PR1MA) houses had been reduced from 10 to five years.

Najib said the decrease was to make the housing project more attractive.

However, Adnan said Rumawip projects were different from PR1MA projects.

“Rumawip houses are located at the prime areas but PR1MA is everywhere,” he said.

He added that people should not sell their houses but keep them for their children.

Rumawip is a government initiative for the public to own houses at a lower price in the capital city.