Its minister Noh Omar said the ministry will call in developers who have set their prices above the market valuation, prior to the approval of their advertising permit and developers licence (APDL).
“The price of housing is determined by the state government, as proposed by the developer with all aspects taken into account,” he said.
“That is why the time has come for us to have a formula by which we can weigh the price that we (ministry) are studying with the price proposed by the developer.
“If we find a developer selling at too high a price before the APDL is issued, we will call the company up to give a justification for having the houses sold at such a high price,” he said at a press conference at an affordable housing carnival at the Shah Alam Convention Centre (SACC) here today.
Noh was commenting on a statement by the National House Buyers Association (HBA) which dismissed the notion that banks were to blame for unsold properties.
HBA secretary-general Chang Kim Loong had told FMT that “ridiculous” prices were the real reason why many Malaysians were unable to buy property, to the point where even households earning RM9,000 struggled to buy a home.
This was after the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) cited end-financing issues and loan rejections as the main reasons for unsold properties, with rejection rates as high as 60%.
Meanwhile, Noh said the ministry has instructed Bank Negara Malaysia to ease up on the conditions imposed on first-time house buyers.
He said the central bank was currently studying the proposal to ensure that more people could own their first home.
“All banks have their own conditions for those who wish to buy homes,” he said.
“We have met with the central bank and asked them for some leniency. They are studying our request, as buying houses is not the same as buying cars or incurring other debts. There needs to be some leniency,” he added.