The Housing and Local Government Ministry has recorded 117 abandoned projects covering 30,840 units of houses as at January 31 with 81 of them comprising housing projects priced RM300,000 and below.

Its deputy minister Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu (pictured) said the 81 projects involve 23,031 unit of houses and 12,565 buyers.

“They are made up of 13 projects with a price range of RM301,000 to RM500,000, five projects at a price range of RM500,001 to RM750,000, two projects between RM750,001 to RM1 million and 16 projects for houses worth RM1 million and above, ” he said.

He said this during an oral question-and-answer session at Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday in reply to a supplementary question by Senator Tan Sri Datuk Low Kian Chuan who wanted to know the number of projects and abandoned houses according to the price range.

Replying to Senator Manolan Mohamad’s supplementary question regarding the surplus of unsold houses, he said the issue of overhang residences is a manifestation of the mismatch between demand and supply of houses in the market.

Among the main factors that cause the surplus of unsold completed houses is the COVID-19 epidemic which affected economic growth and the financial position of buyers besides the sale of houses with high prices but low demand.

Other factors include developers building projects in less strategic areas and do not have good facilities as well as the rejection of buyers’ financing loans by banking institutions due to their qualifications and capabilities.

Replying to Low’s original question regarding the timeline for completing the vacancy tax feasibility study to help solve the problem of unsold residential properties (overhang), Aiman Athirah said the government does not believe there is a need to carry out the Vacancy Tax feasibility study.

“The government is of the view that the intervention actions implemented in the housing market at the moment are adequate,” he said.

Source: Bernama