View properties in person, buyers advised

KUALA LUMPUR: Buyers should view the property they intend to purchase instead of making their decision solely based on online information, said Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung.

He said this advice was in view of the many reports received regarding false promises and advertisements for online purchases of other products.

“Besides looking at information online, I would encourage property buyers to visit Malaysia and view the properties to ensure that everything is all right,” he said after the launch of online siteMalaysia.SouFun.com here yesterday.

Property developers, he said, should also organise tours for buyers to view their properties.

The ministry, added Chor, also welcomed foreign clientele, who were mainly from China.

Aside from the Malaysia My Second Home programme, which was gaining popularity among foreigners, he said the country was heading towards becoming an education hub in the region, attracting many parents from China and South-East Asia wanting to buy residential homes for their children studying here.

There were also currently no plans to increase the RM500,000 minimum price for foreigners to purchase properties in Malaysia despite the rise in prices of linked houses in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur, he said.

The Government, he said, had mulled raising the minimum price but found that the number of foreigners acquiring properties in this country was still low less than “two digit” in terms of overall percentage, with Singaporeans making up around 5%.

“However, the Government may review it again in future,” he said.

Meanwhile, SouFun Malaysia managing director Suzanne Ooi said it hoped to provide a platform for quick access to information.

Since it was set up in November, SouFun Malaysia had concluded more than RM20mil in sales for the primary market of Malaysia property deals, she said.

Aiming to turn itself into the largest Chinese real estate website platform, the company hoped to achieve RM200mil of overseas purchase for Malaysian properties by the end of next year, she said. - The Star