Penang: The Penang government today denied claims that Chinese nationals had bought hundreds of homes in the state below the minimum price threshold set under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, State Housing and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo clarified that the allegation stemmed from an inaccurate interpretation of property transaction data concerning foreign buyers in Penang for 2025. He stated that records from the Land and Mines Office indicated that of the 365 property units involving foreign buyers, only 15 units were sold at prices ranging from RM400,000 to RM1.5 million under the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) approved by the state authorities.
Sundarajoo addressed the miscalculation of the average selling price, which was reported as RM411,506, noting that it did not accurately reflect the actual situation. His comments were in response to Seberang Jaya assemblyman Izhar Shah Arif Shah's claims that Chinese nationals owned 365 houses in Penang valued at RM150.2 million in total, averaging RM411,506 per unit.
He further explained that the state government had launched the HOC and the Penang Property Sector Stimulus Policy from 2020 to 2024 to reinvigorate the property sector, which had been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative was driven by a significant increase in completed unsold or overhang property units nationwide, including 5,222 units in Penang, as reported by the National Property Information Centre.
To address this issue, the state government, under the HOC, introduced targeted incentives such as lowering the minimum price threshold for property purchases by foreign nationals, a 50 percent reduction in Approval Fees, and decreased Foreign Purchaser Levy charges. Sundarajoo noted that the HOC policy ended in December 2024, and property sale value rates for foreign nationals have since reverted to the original rates as outlined in the Penang State Guidelines on Property Acquisition by Non-Citizens or Foreign Companies.
He assured that all approvals for property purchases by foreign nationals were conducted transparently and subjected to consideration and approval by the state authorities.