PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he had criticised Johor’s Forest City development due to the nature of the project, not the prospect of foreign home ownership.

He said the project is a very luxurious one that only foreigners can afford to buy, not Malaysians.

The multi-billion project by developer Country Garden Holdings Co, is set to house 700,000 people when it is completed.

Chinese buyers account for two-thirds of units sold so far. A fifth are from Malaysia and the rest from 22 other countries.

“The properties we have allowed a reduction in price and that foreigners are allowed to buy are open to Malaysians.

“Since there are not enough Malaysians buying, there is an overhang. We need to sell them or the developers will get into trouble,” he said after attending a medical conference and expo in Kuala Lumpur today.

In a move to reduce property overhang, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng while tabling the Budget 2020 last Friday had lowered the threshold for foreigners buying high-rise homes from RM1 million to RM600,000 per unit.

Dr Mahathir said if the property overhang is not dealt with it will trigger a crisis in the property sector as seen in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

“We have to settle this so the property market can recover.” – October 15, 2019.