There is no need to impose vacancy tax on unsold units of luxury high-rise residences in the Klang Valley as the number remains low, said Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Dr Edmund Santhara Kumar.
“From the ministry’s point of view on the proposal to impose such tax, there is no need for now but such a proposal would be reviewed and may be studied [further],” he said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Edmund was responding to a question by Datuk Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus (PH-Hulu Langat) who wanted to know whether the government would be imposing such tax policies, which are in place in some developed countries such as Spain, Australia and Canada.
The Segamat member of Parliament, citing data from the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), said there were 2,260 unsold condominium units within the Klang Valley, of which 498 comprised luxury units worth RM1 million and above as of the second quarter of 2018.
This issue, he said, must be jointly overcome by the relevant parties including the Ministry of Finance and Bank Negara Malaysia.
“Some of the contributing factors to this problem are potential buyers’ affordability to get a loan and the mismatch between supply and demand in the market,” he noted.
At the Federal Territories Ministry’s level, Edmund said the Kuala Lumpur City Hall has taken several measures to address the problem including studying the supply and demand projection for every development project before granting its approval.
In April, NAPIC announced that the number of completed and unsold properties from all segments climbed to RM41.5 billion as at end-2019, with nearly 57,000 units sitting on the books of developers.
Of the total value, 45% or RM18.82 billion was contributed by the residential housing of all categories from landed to high-rise units.
Notwithstanding this, NAPIC said the total number of unsold residential properties in Malaysia decreased for the first time after four years — by 5.1% in 2019.
Source: EdgeProp.my
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