Property investor club to be clubbed?

The news about imposing a quota for bulk purchases by property investor clubs is a very good news for the people. It is about time the government curb such hoarding activities. As I have said in the past, there should be a distinction between property purchases arising from flush liquidity and to make quick buck; vs. the real housing demand as a basic shelter for general citizens, whether for low-cost or affordable housing. Earlier, the government also restrict selling of low-cost/affordable houses within ten years from the purchase date. That is another good move to curb speculators.

Other measures that should be in place include build-then-sell arrangement to avoid abandon projects, stop or reduce release of freehold properties to foreigners, steeper RPGT for those selling properties within 5 years and to introduce measures to limit residential property purchases by individuals to two units, in addition to existing loan restrictions. This way we reduce the cases where the parents purchase properties for their children. Sure, they can still purchase the property but the name must be under their children's name instead ie. they just have to purchase it in cash.

Another measure is to set rent control or selling price control for properties in key urban areas, and adjustments are linked to CPI. Yes this measure is drastic but not as drastic as seeing property prices doubling or trippling in recent years while income and interest rate stay stagnant. I think we used to have rent controls in some areas but can't recall when and why it was removed.

I'm not sure if the restriction on unit purchases can be enforced effectively since there is no single database that captures the entire list of residential property owners in this country. But the geographical focus need not be the entire country as the problematic areas are limited to key urban location in Klang Valley and Selangor. May be its harder to impose conditions in other city centres like Penang, JB and KK because of politics and state restrictions etc., but let's start where it has hurt non-owners the most first.