I was with Steven Tan of Skybridge and Ryan Khoo of Alpha Marketing just now. They briefly discussed their sentiments on how the 3 new measures (1. higher entry price, 2. no DIBS and 3. higher RGPT) could impact the market. If you think it's worth your time, I'm offering my views too.
1. Higher Entry Price
The higher entry price of RM1m is surely to impact those investors who bought at the lower end of RM500k to RM1m price range (i.e. RM500k to RM600k). They can't sell to foreigners in 2 months time, and with the intended stabilization of the lower-end market due to these new curbs and the announcement of 224,000 affordable housing being planned to be built starting 2014, this group will be in trouble, especially if they can't hold long time.
For those who bought towards the higher end of that bracket (e.g. RM800k to RM900k), there could be good news. Firstly, developers will raise their prices to RM1m (whether they give rebates thereafter to offset the price is another debate). Then, the secondary market will likely follow suit. With enough market force, there could bring about a price appreciation for the properties in this price bracket.
All these will bring good news for citizens. It will be a buyers' market for them.
Another group which may gain from this measure are the Medini property owners. Ryan, who is known to be very pro Iskandar, agreed that foreigners who cannot fork out RM1m will only have Medini left on their radar scope. And those smaller units which command smaller quantum will stand to benefit most. Too bad no Medini owners could sell yet.
What will happen to the remaining 2 groups - a. those who bought in the region of RM750k and b. those who bought in excess of RM1m? Well, for a., it's as good as anyone's guess. If the bullish momentum for the property market sustains, then potentially, they may reap at least a 33% profit when they sell at RM1m. But they could very well be stuck without a foreign buyer. So, I think the future may be a bit cloudy for this group, especially for those who bought outside the locals "catchment" area. For b, there shouldn't be much impact. They will still have to wait for that small pool of wealthy buyers.
Lastly, specific to this measure, I think we may see a trend for developers in Iskandar to start building bigger apartments, like in Penang. I substantiate this statement by doing a quick, hardly scientific check using PropertyGuru. A search of RM500k to RM1m housing in Penang yielded 21995 properties, of which only 3901 or 17.7% are smaller than 1000sqft in size. In Johor, the same search yielded a ratio of 26.4% for RM500k to RM1m housing sized 1000sqft or smaller. So if Penang is the indicator, we should find lesser smaller units being offered in the future. Would this mean more demand for smaller units in Iskandar? Yes. But remember that they can only be sold to locals.
2. No more DIBS
Well, judging from the creativity of Malaysian developers, this will just be a temporary setback. Both Steven and Ryan thought the developers will offer some form of rebates or offer a higher discount from the purchase price. In any case, DIBS had mostly been priced in in the first place.
My opinion is that this measure will hurt 2 groups - c. small-fry investors who don't have a fat enough pay check, and d. genuine first-time local buyers. For c., it's obvious they have to start paying the moment they sign the SPA or when piling starts (unless the developer's creative work-around entails monthly rebates). They also won't likely be able to flip immediate upon VP due to the raised RGPT. It's better for this group to work out their sums carefully. For d, this group are young local families struggling to pay their rent and car loan, and depended on DIBS to tide them through for 3 years until their salary is higher. Now, they may be better off saving for that 3 years and buying from the secondary market.
In the immediate term (now till 31 Dec 2013), the developers and law firms would start canceling their staffs' year-end leave so as to process the back-log of SPA. Those who recently bought with DIBS should chase the developer to sign your SPA within the next 65 days. Those who are thinking of buying with DIBS will have to reconsider with the near certainty of not getting DIBS SPA process in time.
3. Higher RGPT
For foreigners who bought 4 - 5 years ago, there should be minimal impact. The 5% RGPT from the 6th year onwards is considered negligible after factoring all the deductibles. But for those who bought 3 years ago, they should consider to hold on for another 2 years, unless they can sell tomorrow and process the SPA by year's end, which I think is impossible. For those who bought more recently and are banking on flipping come VP, they have to reconsider and make sure that they have sufficient holding power for another 2 years. I won't know by then (2018) will there be another round of RGPT increase, but as of now, this should be the best strategy. Besides, 2018 will be when all the promised infrastructure are delivered or at least closer to fruition, so it should help in the appreciation of captial.
Well, these are our preliminary thoughts. Like I always qualify, what I wrote cannot be taken as expert advice; it's only worth 2 cents.
I'm sure there will be disagreement from my quick analysis, but such is the beauty of a forum like this where everyone offers their view.
All the best to those who have invested! Till Budget 2015!