GEORGE TOWN, Nov 22 (Bernama) – Penang’s real estate and housing sector is in the recovery phase post-COVID-19 pandemic, and it is the second-best performing city in Southeast Asia (SEA), the Penang State Legislative Assembly was told.
State Housing and Environment committee chairman Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo said the latest Knight Frank Asia Pacific report on the Asia-Pacific Residential Index for the first half of 2023 showed that housing prices in Penang increased by 5.78 percent in the period.
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Penang became the second top-performing city in Southeast Asia after Singapore which showed a significant rise in housing prices at 7.97 percent, followed by Bangkok at 4.36 percent.
“Besides that, the average household income has also increased and enables Penang citizens to own houses even though prices are above the median property price.
“The increase in house prices in Penang is in line with the rise in household income,” he said.
He was responding to a question from Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff (PAS-Sungai Dua) on the property sector in Penang and the state government’s plan to provide affordable houses to the people.
Meanwhile, Sundarajoo said the real estate stimulus policy and home ownership campaign which started in June 2021 introduced by the state government to propel the state’s property industry had made a positive impact.
“Through this policy, the maximum housing prices have been reduced by 10 percent whereby the maximum price for affordable houses on the island has been reduced to RM270,000 and in Seberang Perai to RM225,000,” he said.
Apart from that, he said the prices of affordable houses are still controlled by the state government at a ceiling price of RM300,000 under a policy to preserve, sell, and intensify the sale of affordable houses in the state.