Minister admits houses priced above RM250k are hardly sold

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar has admitted that a lot of houses priced above RM250,000 were unsold, and for that, he blamed developers who are overzealous in building luxury units.

He said developers should instead support the government in providing affordable housing to the rakyat, for which the government had spent at least RM2.7 billion so far.

"Studies have indeed shown that houses priced below RM250,000 are easily sold. The majority of unsold units are apartment units priced over RM250,000," he told a press conference at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said this in response to a question on the remark made by Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin that he had received complaints that it has become impossible for most people to own a house in the Federal Territory.

Bung (photo) had also claimed that PR1MA, the affordable housing project by the federal government, had also strayed from its original objective.

Noh, however, refused to comment on this particular issue as it was not under his jurisdiction.

"PR1MA is not under me. Go and ask Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim. I can only answer questions regarding People's Housing Projects (PPR)," he said.

Noh added that all housing luxury development projects in the city, which had already gained approval, will proceed, as decided by the Cabinet after discussions with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

These include shopping malls and office spaces.

The number of such premises, Noh said, exceeded the demand.

"The first thing we have to stop is houses priced above RM1 million because based on our records, these are the majority which remains unsold. Expensive strata houses are also unsold.

"What has been passed, we let them proceed, but new projects will not be allowed to take place."

He said this when asked whether the development projects in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) and Taman Desa, which have been approved by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall despite objections from local residents, will be allowed to continue. - Mkini