PROPERTY developers want the government to extend the national home ownership campaign (HOC) that has stimulated the industry and helped it to weather the Covid-19 pandemic.

The HOC was introduced in 2019 by the government to stimulate sales and help Malaysians own a home with the exemption of stamp duties.

The government was prompted to relaunch the campaign last year to boost the property sector hard hit by the Covid-19 outbreak and consequent lockdowns. Unless it is extended, it will end in May.

According to a Rehda survey, the HOC resulted in the sale of RM25.6 billion of real estate between June last year and February. Half of the transactions were in Selangor.

Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association vice-president Ho Hon Sang told The Malaysian Insight the buyer also benefited from the savings, which added up to quite a bit.

For example, one could get a discount of up to RM12,000 on a RM500,000 home.

“HOC is not only good for solving the problem of unsold units, it is also good for home buyers.”

Ho said Rehda was officially applying to the government to extend the HOC until December.

Changing habits

Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents president Lim Boon Ping said the market had responded well to the HOC.

The real estate sector was already sluggish when the pandemic swept into Malaysia, he said, but the HOC has revived the market.

He said this could be seen in the National Property Information Centre report for the 2020 third quarter. According to the data, the industry’s transaction volume rose to 89,245 units in 2020 from 83,085 units during the same period in 2019.

The HOC’s financial incentives, together with the launch of EPF’s i-Sinar facility that let workers withdraw their savings, had worked like a shot in the arm for the real estate market, he said.

At the same time, the campaign was a chance for developers to unload their unsold units.

“Although the market conditions cannot be said to be very good now, they are certainly not as lifeless as before.”

The coronavirus crisis has had a sobering effect on people and caused a shift in priorities, he said.

“Many buyers are not so demanding now when choosing a home. Besides a reasonable price, they all want to be located near their workplace.”

He said a thriving real estate sector would have a knock-on effect on hundreds of industries.

The National Property Information Centre report said the housing sector was gradually recovering from the effects of the pandemic, with the residential sub-sector seeing the biggest growth.

Real estate transactions dipped 2.4% to RM337.8 billion in the third quarter, however, compared with RM346.2 billion in the corresponding period the year before.

It is uncertain if the developers’ wish for the HOC to run on will be granted. Government sources said a decision will be made later. – April 2, 2021.