More incentives to encourage house buyers
THERE are several aspects to what determines prices of properties. Location is paramount. There is no dispute to that.
Sentiment matters and incentives provided by developers play a huge role.
Of late property developers have been thinking up ways to energise sales irrespective of the current challenging situation, which IJM Corp Bhd’s managing director and chief executive Datuk Soam Heng Choon can testify to.
“Global financial sentiments matter as much as national issues,” he said.
In this respect, the group unveiled an insurance scheme to mitigate unemployment fears for prospective house buyers.
This is the first time in Malaysia that unemployment insurance is being introduced.
“We expect this to lift sales and mitigate the fear that financial institutions may have on prospective house buyers seeking a loan,” he said.
Such initiatives would help buyers in some sectors such as the oil and gas segment that have come under heavy pressure due to the low oil prices.
Other developers are also providing various schemes.
For instance, some offer the 10/90 scheme where buyers pay only 10% of the price and the balance 90% on vacant possession. This would mean that the buyers have at least two to three years to beef up their financials in order to secure the loan for the property.
Others provide a financial safety net to buyers for a short term in case they are not able to secure a loan. The Sunway Group is one that offers such facilities.
Most of the developers are keeping their promotion until end of the year to help buyers.
Just four months before these benefits end, even the current month of the Hungry Ghost Festival may not deter sales with such innovative schemes.
