PETALING JAYA: Mah Sing lauded the implementation of The First Home Deposit Funding Scheme (MyDeposit) as one of the key measures by the government to increase house ownership amongst Malaysians.

“The scheme is a very viable solution for first time homebuyers to start building their asset base and own the roof over their heads, as the eligible ceiling price is RM500,000, with household income capped at RM10,000.

“This will directly benefit Mah Sing as 70% of our house buyers are first time home buyers aged below 40 years old,” said Mah Sing’s group managing director cum group chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum in a press release.

He noted that 50% of their residential launches this year are priced below RM500,000, making half their potential buyers eligible to apply for the MyDeposit scheme.

Some of the products in this category are Cerrado serviced apartments in Southville City@KL South, which are affordable luxury homes indicatively priced from RM368,000 and Cendana apartments in M Residence 2 in Rawang priced at RM170,000 in the Central region.

In the Southern region, Meridin Sovo in Meridin@Medini is priced from RM401,000, Meridin Hotel serviced suits from RM460,000, Austin Suites in Austin Perdana from RM455,000, Meridin East (Greenway units from RM419,000 and The Willows from RM455,000).

Leong said: “Currently there is a big supply gap of housing in Malaysia, yet most developers are scaling back on launches because buyers have difficulty in coming up with the differential sum, and at the same time they find it difficult to obtain end financing. This will further exacerbate the supply-demand gap which is growing every year.”

He noted that according to National Property Information Centre, CEIC and Bank Negara Malaysia, the supply of new houses needs to increase by about 200,000 annually from 2016 to 2020 to match the estimated growth in households.

He pointed out that all stakeholders including developers, bankers and the government should work hand in hand to improve this situation.

“Besides the developers building homes, perhaps the banks should provide finance schemes for first time home buyers to take into account other earnings such as overtime and allowances. Why not extend the loan tenure for first time home buyers instead of a blanket approval of a maximum 30 years for all borrowers?” said Leong.

He suggested that apart from the government’s initiative to offer 100% financing for My First Home Scheme and 110% financing for Pr1ma housing, perhaps the banks could also consider extending 100% loan financing for first time home buyers.

“If buyers are able to obtain loans, the developers will be able to increase the supply as development is all about cash flow. The government has taken positive steps like this MyDeposit Scheme and providing 50% stamp duty exemption on instruments of transfer and loan agreements for first time home buyers,” said Leong.

He said Mah Sing echoes Rehda’s suggestion that Developers Interest Bearing Scheme be selectively allowed for first-time home buyers, so that they do not have to pay interest on loans and rental on their property at the same time during the construction of their homes.