Malaysia's property sector fears S'pore-type measures

WITH flagging residential sales, Malaysia's property market would be dealt a crushing blow should overly drastic tightening measures including upfront buyer and seller stamp duties be introduced in Budget 2014, said a stockbroker.

One-size-fits-all measures will not work to curb spiralling prices but more targeted moves might, HwangDBSVickers said in a sector report ahead of the tabling of the Budget next Friday.

Its analyst, Yee Mei Hui, reckons that raising the real property gains tax (RPGT) and stamp duty could push house prices up as sellers would try to pass the increases onto buyers, or delay disposal, leading to even tighter supply. She was also against the reduction of loan-to-value ratio on second outstanding property loans, saying this would affect genuine upgraders.