Misterleaf, property gain tax is a pertinent point that most of us have known. The increase in RPGT will definitely help curb speculation of properties. As a matter of fact, current speculators who have bought quite a few units may not be able to sell off the properties too easily with some conditions imposed by the government, which will be revealed shortly in a few more hours.

Just 2 weeks ago, received news from a dad's friend that a house in Bandar Puteri Klang was reduced from RM450k to RM360k for a quick sale. Some have been desperate to unload units before the upcoming budget announcement as the fear of not being able to secure a sale is high.

Think the market will stabilise a bit with this budget announcement with less speculators and foreign investors driving up property prices.

There is quite a bit of misconception here on prices of property in Malaysia. Firstly, there are few scenarios involved here. Most here seem to be harping on the financial capability of a person in owning a home. Of course this is a valid point, otherwise we would see everyone from the lower-income group owning RM1 million properties.

It is prudent to say that there are other factors driving the prices of properties up. Hard-core speculators who buy 10 units or more upon launching and releasing them at a high mark-up 1-2 years later when construction of the building is completed, or investors who bought much fewer units but still contribute to the effect. This phenomena is quite evident for the past 2-3 years especially for properties below RM500k, less common with those in the higher price bracket.

Apart from local speculators who some of them rely on this type of buy/self for a living or side-income, foreign investors too play a part due to the weak Ringgit. Singaporeans find our properties cheap whilst other foreign investors have played a part as well in driving up the prices of properties here. This pattern was seen in other parts of the countries as well, especially Singapore when mainland Chinese investors have driven property prices in Singapore to a very high level.

In the recent budget announced by the government, it appears that they have taken all aspects into consideration. ALthough the government are aware that all this property speculation is an issue, the interest of developers and other players in the industry would be important too, since some of them are their allies, apart from the fact that the property/construction industry is one of the big factors that contribute to the growth of the economy.