Zuraida: No formal target set for sale of luxury homes to foreigners

KUALA LUMPUR: There is currently no formal target set for the sale of luxury homes to foreigners, says Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin (pic).

"There is no formal or structured plans with regard to the target of sales of such homes to foreigners.

"The price of luxury homes for foreigners is still a state matter with the respective states having differing thresholds," she said when answering a question raised by Tan Sri Annuar Musa (BN-Ketereh) in Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Oct 30).

She cited examples where Selangor and Penang had a threshold of RM2mil while other states pegged it at RM1mil.

She added that effort was underway by her ministry to develop a big data system to resolve the property overhang issue in the country.

Pressed further by Annuar if it was her ministry which had proposed lowering the threshold for foreigners to own luxury homes, Zuraida said it wasn't.

"This policy was introduced by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) under the previous administration and is currently under the Economic Affairs Ministry.

"However, the proposal was from the Finance Ministry in view that sales of such homes to foreigners was only 0.4% or representing only 386 individuals who had bought homes above RM1mil," she said.

She added the proposal was introduced by the Finance Ministry following concerns over the overhang of luxury properties.

Zuraida said the move to lower the threshold to allow foreign ownership of luxury would ensure cash flow in the country.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had announced during Budget 2020 that the government will lower the threshold on high rise property prices in urban areas for foreign ownership from RM1mil to RM600,000 in 2020.

The move is seen as a way to reduce supply overhang of condominiums and apartments estimated at RM8.3bil.