‘Ignore bubble rumours’

By BUSINESS TIMES
MALAYSIANS should ignore rumours that a property bubble is forming in the local housing market, said IOI Properties Group Bhd chief.
According to executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng, the market is moving sideways at the moment as banks are controlling lending.
“It is difficult to get financing now,” he said at Invest Malaysia, here, yesterday.
However, Lee said he has expected property prices to move upwards after the cooling measures introduced by the government.
“The market is stable now but I expect that in time to come, it will move upwards and the next hike will be higher than the one before the financial crisis,” he said.
On the group’s expansion, Lee said IOI Properties is focusing on building smaller units but offering wider varieties to appeal to buyers.
“This is what most developers are doing and we have also moved in that direction.”
He said developers are still launching new housing projects but sales have been slow.
Buyers have generally held back after the government came out with cooling measures to reduce speculative demand in the property market.
These include an increase in real properties gain tax, curbs to Developer Interest Bearing Schemes and stricter loan-to-value ratio.