GEORGE TOWN (August 16): Following a drop in demand for expensive units, State Housing Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said that building affordable homes is the way forward for developers.

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) cites data from the National Property Information Centre (Napic) which states that 60% (2,383 units) of the 4,092 unsold units in the first quarter of this year were priced at RM500,000.

“Don’t come and complain, ‘there is an overhang, we can’t sell’. I have been telling developers to help us build affordable housing.

“Statistics show building affordable homes is the way forward. If you want to build high-end, then you will have to wait. You build high-end units at your own peril,” he said at a press conference in Komtar today, reported the news portal.

Of the 2,383 unsold units, 901 units were priced at RM1 million and above, while 1,482 units were above RM1.5 million.

Napic defines unsold units as those that have not been sold nine months after completion.

“Nine months might be too short for some developers to sell all off their units, so perhaps the metrics should change,” Jagdeep said.

He suggested that Napic consider categorising based on “regular-priced” and “affordable housing-priced” units for a clearer picture.

At present, all unsold units were counted together, regardless of price or type for Penang, when the numbers should be differentiated between affordable and unaffordable categories.

On a related matter, Jagdeep urged the housing and local government ministry to follow in Penang’s footsteps, and lower the ceiling price of affordable housing from RM500,000 to RM300,000.

“A study should be conducted to assist the lower income group, especially to aid first-time home buyers. And one way is to reduce the ceiling prices,” he said, as quoted by FMT.

He also lauded the move by Putrajaya to exclude cement, sand and steel from the sales and service tax (SST).

Jagdeep had earlier announced an affordable housing expo held by the Penang government, at Prangin Mall, George Town, from Aug 18 to 19 from 10am to 10pm.

The expo would feature 13 developers including state development arm Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and federal home developers PR1MA who will be showcasing some 6,000 residential properties priced from RM200,000 to RM400,000.