1/3 or 30% is the rule of thumb for one's housing loan. However, the total loan of a person can go as high as 60-70%, depending on credit strength and history. Total loan can be made up of other commitments, such as hire purchase loan (car loan) and also personal loan. But assuming if one does not have hire purchase loan and personal loan, then it is possible to get a higher percentage for his housing loan. Again, this depends on credit strength, and additional supporting documents such as good history (monthly installment) and also strong credit (fixed deposits, Amanah Saham cert) will help a lot.

It was never ever 30%. Lots of people get confuse with the 'rule of thumb - 30% of your gross income'. It's just a guideline that your housing loan shouldn't exceed 30%, considering that one will also have other debts such as credit card, hire purchase loan and personal loan.

Yes, that is correct. 30% is the rule of thumb for housing loan itself.
70% is the normal limit of total debt including housing loan, car loan and so on.

But again, it depends on case to case, and there are cases where people can drive it to even 100%!!! It totally depends on what you have.
For example, if one is planning to buy at RM1mil house and wants to take a RM900k loan. By taking this loan, his monthly commitment will be 100% of his gross income. If he can produce supporting documents that he has a RM2mil fixed deposit locked in for 5 years with the lending bank, the loan will be approved.

DIBS isn't the main that is causing the rise in property take up and thus, the prices. People are buying more than they need, a few properties. While some might argue that they are merely investing for the future, it also means that they are buying additional property which is more of a desire than need.

Thus, I think the government should impose a cap for the margin of financing for the 2nd property onwards, instead of the current 70% for the third property onwards. I am one of those investors who have 2 properties under loans, and have taken advantage of this, with plans to get a 3rd by year end. Maybe a margin of finance structure of:

a) 90% for 1st property
b) 80% for 2nd property
c) 70% for 3rd property
d) 60% for 4th property
ed) 50% for the 5th property onwards

DIBS is necessary especially for consumers buying their 1st home and can't afford the down payment. I think it's important we assume and allocate that each person should be entitled to purchase one property comfortably but anything more than that, should be quite a burden, since the aim is to afterall make profit. The way profit is made in real estate is quite cruel, as it jacks up the price of properties out of the reach of those who need it as their 1st home.

Another direct way to prevent flippers is to jack up the RPGT. I think it should be equivalent to the max cap of 26% for transactions within 5 years from S&P, just like the ceiling rate for personal income tax. While 5 years might be really long, as compared to the current 2 years, bear in mind, for the construction of a high rise residential, 3 years is the norm. Thus, the 2 years will have no effect as people only tend to sell once the property is completed. That's where the bulk of the appreciation kicks in, once the risk of project incompletion has been removed.

Just my 2 cents.

*By the way, I'm happy if government doesn't implement the above. So I can continue abusing the current system.... :-)

I actually strongly disagree on how it has been coined, 'paying for the future price'. When one takes DIBS, the purchase price that he/she is forking out is merely the current price + the interest amount, that's it.

That means, they are not paying anything extra when they purchase the property through DIBS. It will however inflate the price of the property and the sub sale purchaser will be the one bearing the effect. He/she will then be paying the 'previous current price + DIBS amount + appreciated amount'. That person will be paying for DIBS but not getting any it.

Wow, interesting info. May I know your source of info? From what I understand, the DSR would heavily depend on additional supporting docs, and not the income. Thus, one can have RM8k nett income but DSR capped at a low level, 60% maybe, because there is no supporting docs such as fixed deposit statement, Amanah Saham...etc