IPOH: Prospective house buyers should take the chance to buy property following a move to exempt the stamp duty for first-time owners of homes costing below RM500,000, says Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming.
He said 76.9% of Malaysians were already home owners but he hoped that this number would go up.
He said the ministry hoped that every Malaysian would have a place that they could call home, so it made a proposal to the Finance Ministry about the stamp duty exemption.
Speaking to reporters yesterday after visiting a wet market here, Nga voiced his gratitude to the Prime Minister for continuing with the Home Ownership Programme (HOPE).In Gombak, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the extension of the stamp duty exemption could help increase home ownership, as well as clear the excess number of vacant homes in the Klang Valley.
“Stamp duty makes up a substantial cost for young couples or families looking to get a house.
“With the exemption, I hope it will encourage more active house-buying from the people.
“This will also help to clear up premises that have been completed but left vacant in the Klang Valley,” he told reporters after attending the Selangor National Youth Day celebration yesterday.
