GEORGE TOWN: Developers in Penang should focus on selling homes to genuine house buyers and not speculators, said Raine & Horne senior partner Michael Geh.

He said that due to speculation, house prices had increased beyond the affordability level of wage earners who made between RM3,000 and RM4,000 a month.

?In the property market today, affordability is the key issue and should be addressed by developers.

?Last year, developers were targeting bulk buyers for their property which are priced from more than RM300,000 to above RM400,000. These buyers are speculators willing to buy three to 10 units each,? Geh said during a talk yesterday on the state of property in Penang for this year at the i-Property Talk organised by the Red Tomato Penang Free Newspaper.

He said he had noticed efforts by developers to reach out to genuine home buyers since the beginning of this year.

On property prices for this year, Geh said the rise would be more gradual this year as last year?s appreciation in prices had been ?phenomenal?.

?There is anticipation that the interest rates for housing loan will increase soon,? he added.

Geh also said the present heritage guidelines for Penang island were too restrictive and not conducive for healthy development of the property sector.

?The guidelines are too concerned with density suppression.

SOURCE: The Star