Tuesday 26 May 2015

Assistant minister: House prices might go down this year



KUCHING: Regardless of Goods and Services Tax (GST), prices of houses still very much depend on demand, said Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He pointed out based on the trend of the past one to five years, prices of houses increase at 10 per cent per annum.

Though they had been on an uphill trend, he said there was a probability that prices might go down this year, as the demand might slow down due to the implementation of GST on April 1.

“The demand might go down this year as people may put owning a home on the backburner to level out the burden of GST. The drop in prices of houses has happened in Australia and may happen to us,” he said when met after the launching of hitmenten website yesterday.

Meanwhile, he is also supportive of the state government’s absorption of GST on services provided by local councils and government agencies.

Three other states – Johor, Penang and Terengganu – had done this, he said.

“This may impact the GST collection as the government will be paying the GST for the people, but at the same time, it will smooth out the administration and management and help reduce the burden of the people. If this move shows a positive impact, then the government may do away with GST for local councils and government agencies in the future.”

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