Some say this will stop Singaporeans from buying. Some say this will have no effect whatsoever. My friend who’s a HR Director said this when he tried to hire an American expatriate to join a US MNC in Penang. ‘I will triple your retirement funds immediately’. What he meant was, if the American comes to Malaysia, his existing retirement fund in US$ will triple, due to the exchange rate. The American came and joined his organisation in Penang.
As per the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore the average income for citizens and PR is S$3,000 (2012) per month. I believe by the time these workers reach half of their working life; 40 years old, their salary would be S$8,000 if not higher. S$8,000 is not actually a lot if you know about the property prices for condos / landed in Singapore.
If we look at it from the RM and Iskandar perspective, we are talking about RM20,000 income per month and RM1 Million property. Paying a 10% downpayment means RM900,000 loan. Assuming the interest is 5%. Based on a 20 year repayment period, the total mortgage payment comes to less than RM6,000 per month. RM1 million is a good number, not low but definitely bears no long term negative effect on foreign purchase of properties in Iskandar. I must say though that if Iskandar is 2 hours away from Singapore, then the above reasoning does not count.
If I have a choice of travelling to and fro work within 45 minutes and I pay just 25% of my income for a much larger condo / landed property, I am definitely tempted. Yes, I know, majority of everyone would say NO. However, 1% saying yes meant Iskandar better get ready 55,000 RM1 million properties. 🙂
