The property market in Johor Baru and
Iskandar Malaysia has been negatively affected by the cooling measures introduced by the authorities to address rising property prices, says the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association of Malaysia (Rehda).
Rehda Johor chairman Koh Moo Hing said potential property buyers in the two areas were now adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
“Feedback from our members (in Rehda Johor) shows that sales are now slowing down compared with last year, and we also expect fewer property project launches this year. Property price rises were expected to also slow down after this,” he told Bernama here yesterday.
He added the Malaysian Property Exposition in Johor in November last year also recorded fewer visitors.
Last year, the Government, in tabling Budget 2014, raised the Real Property Gains Tax to 30% for properties disposed within three years, while the Johor government raised the minimum value of properties that foreigners could buy from RM500,000 to RM1mil.
The second measure had had a bigger impact on the property market in Johor Baru, Koh said.
Potential buyers were now more wary and wanted confirmation that a completed property had been occupied before making a decision to buy, he said.- Bernama