Penang homes still affordable

Prices of land and homes in Penang are still very much affordable to the middle-income public, said Michael Geh from the popular property firm Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd.

Met at his office recently by Komunitikini, Michael insisted that land prices in Penang aren’t on the high side.

“Land prices in Penang are RM 200 to RM 300 per square feet, whereas land prices around prime KL areas such as KLCC is about RM 2,300 per square feet. I don’t think land prices in Penang are overpriced,” he said.

He did however concede that property speculators make home buying difficult for genuine homebuyers.

“As long as there is greed on the part of those who purchase the house, and an intentional lack of responsibility on part of the developers, property speculation will exist,” he added.

“It takes two hands to clap. So property speculators alone can’t be blamed.”

Michael believes that it does not matter if genuine homebuyers have to queue in order to get their homes, but they should be given priority.

“Even if they have to queue for a long time, it doesn’t matter, they are queuing so that they can finally get their dream homes,” he said.

He also took time to mention the recent ‘My First Home Scheme’, which was launched by the federal government, stating that it is an encouraging scheme.

“It allows individuals to invest in a home for themselves during the post-graduate stages itself, which is a good thing,” he said.

The scheme dictates that those earning less than RM 3,000 would get a 100 per cent loan financing from several participating banks when they purchase a house between RM 100,000 and RM 220,000.

Under the scheme, the government will help the buyers with the initial down payment. The loan can be repaid over a period of 30 years.

Raine & Horne will be featuring affordable homes at the PIP 2011, which will be held at PISA, Penang from March 18 to March 20.

The firm currently has fifteen branches in Peninsular and East Malaysia.