KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia explained today that it has sold more than half of its affordable homes, denying a report claiming low demand from the public.
The federal government’s affordable housing scheme said as at November 15 it has sold 12,460 units with an estimated gross development value of RM3.16 billion, out of 25,132 units open for sale.
“Not all 141,661 units that are currently under various stages of construction are open for sale,” it said in a statement.
“It is misleading to conclude that less than 10 per cent of PR1MA units have been sold to date.”
PR1MA explained it must obtain approval from authorities first before it can sell the homes.
It also said that PR1MA homes have been well received in certain key locations, such as Jalan Jubilee in Bukit Bintang which has been oversubscribed by 27 times.
“A total of 224 units of 42 per cent of the 542 units up for sale were taken up in only three days during the last weekend,” it said.
In theSun Daily report yesterday, the government corporation told the newspaper that demand was high for its houses with the current buyer registration at 1.5 million.
However, PR1MA reportedly acknowledged that many registered buyers for its homes failed to secure bank loans during the financing stage, resulting in a high “drop out” rate.
It explained that the Special PR1MA End Financing scheme was introduced in January as a “loan booster” to help registered buyers with the purchase of the homes.
PR1MA said today it is targeting to sell 16,250 units by end of January next year, the report added.
PR1MA was estalished under the PR1MA Act 2012 to build homes for middle-income earners with household income between RM2,500 and RM15,000 per month.
