Jagdeep Singh

PETALING JAYA (May 25): Cooling measures taken by the Penang government in 2013 have brought down property prices in the state, State Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh said yesterday. In fact, the reduction experienced in Penang is the highest in the country.

According to a report from the malaysiakini portal, Jagdeep said property prices in the state have "stabilised" and is currently affordable.   

He used numbers from the National Property Information Centre (Napic) to back up his point – the highest reduction of 3.2% was seen in Penang compared with the national average of 0.7% where the average price dropped from RM400,994 to RM388,319.

Jagdeep, who is also the DAP Dato Keramat assemblyman, said Penang has price controls on affordable housing units and a 10-year and five-year moratorium on low-cost housing and low-medium cost housing and affordable housing, respectively, theSUN daily reported.

There is also a RM3 million floor price for foreigners purchasing landed property on Penang Island and RM1 million in Seberang Perai, and a 3% fee imposed on such purchases.

Opponents of the state’s housing policy said that foreign purchasers and speculation have pushed up property prices in Penang, making homes unaffordable to locals.

Jagdeep dismissed such a notion, saying that 80% of transactions in Penang involved properties below RM500,000, with 23% involving properties priced RM100,000 and below, while 20% of those transacted are between RM100,001 and RM200,000, and 33% are units between RM200,001 and RM500,000, malaysiakini reported.

Jagdeep was winding up the debate on the motion at the state assembly sitting yesterday.

Earlier during the session, Datuk Shah Headan Ayub Hussain Shah (BN-Teluk Bahang) suggested the state government limit foreign purchases of property to only certain regions, such as tourist and industrial areas.

Jagdeep said a total of 84,876 units of affordable housing would be built, with Bandar Cassia, a Penang Development Corp project, set to be completed by end-2017.

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