“It helps revive the local construction industry and ensures developers have a healthy working capital.”

Some of the initiatives are just extensions of existing programmes, such as Bank Simpanan Nasional’s Youth Housing Scheme, which has been running since 2005, said Datuk Soam Heng Choon.

“Developers cannot arbitrarily increase the price from RM500,000 to RM600,000 because of the lowering of the threshold.”

Rehda Institute also appreciated the government’s effort in introducing the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) which has generated strong market interest and achieved good sales results. The association hopes the government will consider extending the campaign to next year in light of its success.

He also commended the proposal to reduce the foreign home ownership threshold for condominiums and apartments in urban areas to RM600,000.

From RTO to lower foreign buying threshold in urban areas, here is a snapshot of how the budget will impact the real estate segment

永久征收RPGT，让不少想以小房换大房的业主惊觉售屋盈利缩水，不仅无效遏制房产投机，更让投资房产失去吸引力。

购房者对创新拥屋方案是抱着开放接受的态度，并期待政府在来临的预算案中提出更多创新方案，协助国人拥屋。

Next on the people’s wishlist was for clearer and more up-to-date data on housing prices and supply

Income disparity is still an issue where salary increment does not keep up with housing price growth, he adds.