The Malaysian government has taken steps to cool speculation in the property market by imposing a capital gains levy on real estate sales, tightening up regulations governing developers and raising the price bar for foreign investors, moves that have won mixed reviews from analysts.
On October 25 Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak tabled the draft budget for 2014, which has a strong emphasis on raising state revenue and cutting spending. According to the plan, subsidies will be restructured in the coming years and public debt – currently at 53% of GDP – will be lowered.
Among the revenue-generating proposals are a number of new taxes, including a real property gains tax (RPGT), which is also intended to ease property speculation and reduce inflation in housing. Under the new provisions, set to come into effect on January 1, a tax of 30% is to be imposed on gains from real estate sales on properties owned for three years or less, with the rate sliding to 20% if the property is sold in the fourth year of ownership and 15% in the fifth. Any sales after the fifth year will not be charged a capital gains levy. Previously, the capital gains tax on property sales had been set at 10% when introduced in 2010 and later increased to 15%, and applied to sales within two years of purchase.
For foreign property buyers, a different tax scale will be applied, with non-citizens required to pay a tax of 30% on the capital gains for a property sold at any time over the first five years of ownership, after which the rate falls to 5%.
Another move, one seen as even more likely to cool speculation, was the banning of developer interest bearing schemes (DIBS). As their name suggests, developers that offer DIBS agree to pay any interest on home loans during the construction period, making the purchase more attractive to potential buyers. The new provisions also prevent commercial lenders from involving themselves in DIBS-related projects. This measure will probably result in a slowing of off-plan sales by developers, while also reducing the property lending component of some of Malaysia’s larger banks.
While many in the sector have said banning DIBS was a positive move, one that would directly target speculation, others believed it would make it more difficult for first-home buyers to enter the market. One critic of the reform was Michael KC Yam, the president of the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association. Yam told the local media on October 25 that DIBS had been of benefit to many.
“We think that innovative home financing packages such as the DIBS offered by developers of high premium properties should be encouraged to facilitate financing and promote home ownership,” he said.
The RPGT also had its supporters and opponents, with Foo Gee Jen, managing director at property consultancy CH Williams Talhar and Wong, describing the increased levy as a measure that would boost stability in the market.
“The increase in RPGT is a wake-up call for flippers,” he told the local media on November 6. “Investors will have to go back to investing in property fundamentals, such as location and yield.”
However, some analysts have queried whether speculation is as rife in the sector as has been suggested, saying that the higher tax rate on capital gains will do little to reduce price increases for residential properties, one of the stated aims of the bolstered levy.
The budget also lifts the minimum value of a property that foreign investors can buy from the current RM500,000 ($161,000) to RM1,000,000 ($322,000), a move that may cool some of the speculation by overseas players.
Given the still relatively low price and solid value of Malaysian property, even the increased threshold may not curb foreign interest, though Chang Kim Loong, the honorary secretary-general of the National House Buyers Association, believed the higher ceiling will ease pricing pressures for Malaysian buyers.
“Foreigners must be prevented from snapping up property meant for the lower- and middle-income and thus artificially inflating property prices and creating a domino effect which can result in higher property prices across the industry,” he said in a statement issued the day after the budget was handed down.
The budget also lays out a plan to add 223,000 new residential units to the national accommodation stocks in 2014, with both the government and the private sector expected to play a role.
The state will directly provide funding for the construction of low-cost housing, while at the same time offering a subsidy of $6000 per unit to private developers that build homes directed at low- and middle-income buyers.
It will be well into the new year before the full impact of the 2014 budget articles dealing with real estate will become apparent. To some degree at least, the buoyancy of the property market will depend on the strength of the Malaysian economy. The government has predicted growth of 5-5.5% in 2014, though ratings agencies and analysts are predicting GDP expansion may fall somewhat short of this target, at 4-4.5%. It could be that a relatively sluggish economy, rather than any increased tax, could slow activity in the property market.
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