Rehda president Datuk Soam Heng Choon (Photo: thestar.com.my) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Malaysian Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) said it does not expect the ending of the six-month moratorium on loan repayments on September 30 to worsen the country’s residential property overhang.
Last week, the National Property Information Centre noted that the residential property overhang in the first half of 2020 worsened to nearly 32,000 units valued at 20 billion RM (4.8 billion USD), increasing 3.3 percent from the end of last year.
However, Rehda president Soam Heng Choon said banks had been proactive in finding ways to ensure that their customers did not default on their loans.
According to him, an increase in residential property overhang will not happen as banks are extending the moratorium (on a case-to-case basis) or restructuring loans.
He also noted banks are in a better position to help their customers compared with the 1998 Asian financial crisis when the interest rate was at 15, adding that the current interest rate is 3 percent.
The record low interest rates also make monthly repayments affordable even for those affected by pay cuts, he said.
He also praised the Malaysian government for its initiatives aimed at boosting the property sector under the Penjana economic recovery plan by focusing on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)./.
VNA
