Rowsley and Albedo

Iskandar: S’pore plays Rowsley and Albedo may see renewed interest, following today’s Straits Times’ article that “Iskandar developers may get reprieve from curbs”. The newspaper understands that projects that receive approval from the Johor state authority before 1 May ’14 will be exempt from the new rule announced in Oct last year, that raised the min price of property that foreigners can buy from RM500k to RM1m. This move, together with the announcement of three new areas in Iskandar that will enjoy exemption from the new curbs, is expected to be made in a matter of weeks. This may save developers’ frustration from tweaking their project designs to build bigger units, which may erode margins, in order to woo foreign buyers. The Straits Times also notes some expectation that the real property gains tax (RGPT) that went up effective 1 Jan ’14 could also be tweaked. Under the RGPT, non-citizens pay 30% of capitals tax for properties sold within 5 yrs of purchase and 5% in the 6th and subsequent years. Msians also have to pay higher gains tax, although at less onerous levels than foreigners. Developers have been lobbying hard on concerns that the property mkt could be hard hit by these tightening measures.