E Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) 2019 has four months remaining and prospective first-time homebuyers still ‘wet behind the ears’ may be surprised to find an abundance of housing schemes, services and incentives available in the Malaysian property market today.
As online advisory services and personal finance blogs are creating greater awareness among homebuyers, the government is moving quickly to provide their own set of initiatives in the market.
Fuelled by its election pledge to address the issues of home ownership and affordability — especially among low-income earners — numerous initiatives such as stamp duty exemptions and flexible financing options were launched for the year.
The Housing and Local Government Ministry is further aiming to introduce six new home loan schemes by mid-October this year on top of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) own RM1 billion affordable home fund.
Questions remain on how these new schemes will affect the property market in terms of pricing and if flooding the market with easy credit will only exacerbate household debt among Malaysians.
While this urges caution as investing in a home needs to be balanced against an individual’s financial capability, home ownership is perceived as both a right to shelter and as an important investment for the future.
