On the other hand, a real estate negotiator believes it warrants consideration if it can help to prevent runaway price increases.
The National House Buyers Association (HBA) said the government should not restrict people from investing their “hard and legitimately earned” money in property.
Its secretary-general Chang Kim Loong told FMT this is especially so when it comes to properties that are not in the “affordable” category.
On the other hand, real estate negotiator Iwin Tay said while the proposal should be considered, it must be implemented alongside robust policies that will ensure adequate supply of affordable units.
In a recent episode of their Keluar Sekejap podcast, former Umno officials Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan said such limits could help to address the problem of a shortage of affordable housing.
They said the government should put a cap on the number of houses one could buy for investment as this had left the market flooded with expensive homes that remained unsold, pushing prices higher.
Chang pointed out that people invest in property because they are not aware of or well-versed with other forms of investments.
“(For instance) they don’t buy jewellery, gold or paintings,” he said.
In any case, he said, most affordable units are only offered to first-time home buyers through various government schemes.
These properties are priced at RM300,000 and below.
Tay said putting a cap on the number of houses one can buy for investment will help to stabilise property prices, thus preventing them from spiralling beyond what the general public can afford.
“Imposing limits on home purchases can help ease demand pressures on the housing market, especially in areas with a limited supply like Kuala Lumpur,” Tay told FMT.
“However, without efforts to increase the availability of affordable homes, enforcing these restrictions alone might have limited impact.”
He urged the government to promote the development of affordable housing by offering developers tax breaks or grants and implementing regulations that mandate a certain percentage of affordable units in all future housing projects.
In August, international real estate firm Juwai IQI said the median home prices in Malaysia increased by RM136,716 — representing a 42% rise — in the decade leading up to 2023.
It said median prices grew from RM330,427 in 2014 to RM467,143 in 2023.
Last month, the National Property Information Centre said the number of completed but unsold residential properties fell to 22,642 units worth RM14.24 billion in the first half of this year, with most of these unsold units priced below RM300,000. - FMT
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