THE subsale residential property market, which has remained stable over the years, may need some catalysts to boost transactions compared to the primary market which has been seeing improved sales due to the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC).
Rahim & Co International Sdn Bhd real estate agency CEO Siva Shanker said the subsale market has remained steady this year and can do with some catalysts.
“The catalysts include removing the real property gains tax as it does not make any sense in the secondary market which hardly has any speculation going around.
“Secondly, the banks need to relax a little bit on the housing loan, not asking them to drop their standards, but the lending guidelines need not be that stringent,” he told The Malaysian Reserve.
Property consulting firm Firdaus and Associates Property Professionals Sdn Bhd MD Firdaus Musa said although there are transactions in the secondary market, the figure has not grown as much as in the primary market.
“The subsale market is stable, mea ning the volume of transaction does not go up or go down much. People are mostly looking at the properties below RM500,000 in the subsale market.
“There are plenty of choices in the market and homeowners are willing to sell their subsale properties at much lower prices to compete with the rest,” he said.
Firdaus cited Bangi as one of the areas where buyers opt for subsale homes.
He added that older homes in matured locations are gaining more interests than new subsale homes.
“You can already see the potential capital gain in established areas,” he said. Firdaus said buyers are always stuck between buying primary or secondary homes.
There are several incentives for home purchases in the primary mar ket, while buyers generally need more cash for subsale properties.
Firdaus said subsale homebuyers need not worry about the projects being abandoned halfway as it hap pens with new launches sometimes.
Zerin Properties Sdn Bhd real estate negotiator Natasha Gideon said she has seen some improvement in the subsale market today.
“For those with cash in hand, they realise now is a buyers’ market. In addition, owners are willing to let go at below market value.
“The only constant issue is clients not having enough money for the 10% downpayment,” she said.
The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) said in March that the HOC should be extended to first-time homebuyers of secondary market residential properties as well.
The organisation urged the government and stakeholders to weigh the importance of the secondary residential property market which makes up about 80% of all residential property transactions in the country.
“It is important for all parties to recognise that the secondary market is the ‘bedrock’ of the property sector which sustains the real estate market and provides the thrust for its sustained growth,” MIEA noted.
It added that the incentives for buyers of properties registered under the HOC should not just be limited to properties offered by developers as there are significantly more choices of affordably-priced homes for first-time homebuyers within the secondary property market.
“We should allow for the exemption of stamp duties (on the instrument of transfer and loan agreement for sales and purchase) to cover the purchase of homes within the secondary market by first-time buyers. This will also support the government’s overall goal of encouraging home ownership,” MIEA said.
Siva, who is also MIEA’s past president, said the primary market needed the government incentives.
“The primary market had been very slow and it needed the boost to grow,” he said.
