Last night Property Hunter hosted a live show featuring special guest speakers, Caroline Yong, Deputy General Manager of Hap Seng Properties and Joel Low, Team Leader at IQI Sabah. The session was well received and sparked a conversation on the current property market in Sabah.

They touched on topics such as the newly introduced short term economy revival plan, what it means to the buyers and to the sellers and also shared some real-life insight on their performance in the industry during the Movement Control Order.

Here is a short recap of what went down.

What is the new HOC?

The session was held during an interesting period for players of the real estate industry. As Malaysia comes into the fourth phase, or the recovery stage, of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has announced the short-term economic recovery plan. There were 3 key incentives implemented to help aid and boost the country’s property sector.

1. The Home Ownership Campaign was reintroduced for 2020



2. The RPGT waiver



3. The lifting of the 70% margin of finance for 3rd properties onward

Property Hunter host Elson dove in and asked Hap Seng Properties deputy GM, Caroline what the reintroduction of the HOC means for ordinary folks.

“This is the best news for the year 2020. Especially after seeing buyer interest from last year HOC 2019 where we (Hap Seng Properties) sold 33% of unit sold. We see the support from the government, from the Bank Negara, especially in terms of interest rates being lowered and revised 3 times this year and from developers giving rebates and packages. Now is the best time to buy” Caroline enthused.

Government support like never before

Pioneering IQI Sabah Team Leader, Joel added, “I entered this industry during a downturn.  People say now is a downturn when actually things have been slow for around the past 2 years. However, for the almost the first time in Malaysia history we are seeing the OPR cut three times, waiver of MOT, waiver of stamp duty loans and government asking all developers to give a 10 per cent discount, plus now, the RPGT is waived completely.”

As well as the economic recovery plan, some news was shared to show that the current market is not as bad as it really seems. Elson then posed a question - “What about Airbnb? Is it still worth investing in?” Both Caroline and Joel had their own unique views, as well as the viewers who showed their opinion in the comments.

One viewer commented “[Airbnb] is only for those who have strong holding power can invest in Airbnb Sabah. House price is already at the maximum price currently and stagnant. There are limited good Airbnb in Sabah honestly- design and passion. Thus many may opt over hotel compare to Airbnb. Just my one cent.”

You can watch and join in on the discussion here - https://bit.ly/PHIQIHSP