Foreigners can now buy property (condominiums and apartment units in high rise buildings) in Malaysia at a lower cost (below RM800,000), the Malaysian government has announced and confirmed recently.
During the tabling the 2020Budget, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that price threshold of the sale of condominiums and apartment units to foreigners was reduced to RM600,000 from the previous ceiling of RM1 million, reported NST.
The Finance Minister said this was to reduce the supply overhang of condominiums and apartments, which in the second quarter of 2019 had amounted to RM8.3 billion in value.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, also said that the government’s decision to sell condominiums and apartment units to foreigners was due to a huge property overhang nationwide at the moment.
The huge property overhang caused financial loss to the sector that the government is also forced to make a decision in allowing such properties to be sold at a lower price.
“Locals can also now purchase it at such a price, as we have allowed the construction of such properties (condominiums and apartments) and now it cannot be sold, resulting in the nation facing losses,” he said at a press conference at the Langkawi Development Authority office recently.
However, the Prime Minister reiterated that the properties purchased by foreigners could only be used as a holiday home and would not see them being given Malaysian citizenship.
No automatic citizenship will be given to foreigners purchasing properties in Malaysia, he said.
