House price will not come down, developers will build smaller units - Penang REHDA

House prices will not decline but instead, developers will build smaller housing units, says the Penang Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA).

Its chairman, Datuk Jerry Chan attributed this to developers having to bear the high cost for development projects.

"Today, we have to deal with all these contributions, so who will pay for this in the future? Our children, who will pay for it. What we are doing is we are penalising the new generation of house buyers.

"We are making it tougher for the new generation of house buyers, they have to carry the burden of the charges, the building that our previous generation did not have to carry. That is very important to understand why it is so expensive today.

"...it is because all these get pushed to the development projects and all this cost gets pushed to the new house buyers," he told reporters at the media briefing here today.

Chan urged the financial agencies to relax the conditions for first-time home buyers to ensure they had the opportunity to own a house.

He said the loan scheme offered by banks had made it difficult for first-time home buyers to get a loan, adding that banks should give a higher rate percentage of loan for first-time buyers.

Meanwhile, Chan also wants the government to reduce the charges imposed on foreigners buying Penang properties.

"I think that is the way to bring investments to the state, money has been brought to the country...is good for the local economy."