GST impact on property market minimal says PAM president
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will not have much impact on the property market, said president of the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) Chan Seong Aun.
He said property dealers should erase this perception because the development of land or buildings used for residential or for general purposes was exempted from GST.
“Give them (property dealers) at least three months to cool down a little to find that the impact of GST is non-existent and only commercial buildings are subjected to 6% GST,” he said.
On whether the GST would impact the property purchasing power of Gen Y, Chan recommended a salary increment by employers to maintain or raise the standards of living of the generation.
He said employers in other countries which had imposed GST tend to increase the salaries of their employees.
This, he said, was to increase the standards of living as well.
“However, the salary increment has to be ahead of the housing price increase. Only then affordability is here to stay,” he said.
Citing small office/home office and Hong Kong as examples, he encouraged Gen Y to start purchasing small-unit properties.
“You can’t go on ranting about how Malaysian properties are unaffordable. You have to start off somewhere.
“Start off with a small unit then after a few years, when property price has gone up, you can sell it and move to a larger unit, that’s how you do it.
“Look at Hong Kong, their houses are much smaller than ours. Yet they’re experts in utilising space to increase their standards of living. So why can’t we learn from them?” he said.
He also suggested Gen Y team up with their siblings or friends to make property investments to share costs.
“You can purchase a property under a few names and when you sell it after some time, you can divide the money among yourselves. It’s an investment,” he said.
The GST was implemented from April 1 at 6% to replace the Sales and Services Tax of 16%.
Source: http://www.therakyatpost.com/business/2015/04/11/gst-impact-property-market-minimal-says-pam-president/#ixzz3X0bgDiNK
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