The housing market will face downward pressure as the loan moratorium comes to an end as scheduled this month, amid the Controlled Movement Control Order (CMCO) period.
To mitigate the hardships faced by borrowers during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed financial institutions to grant a loan moratorium for six months effective April 1 this year.
For individual borrowers still affected by Covid-19, experiencing loss or reduction in income, banks will provide targeted moratorium extension and loan repayment flexibility after September 30, 2020.
Speedhome chief executive officer Wong Whei Meng said that after the bank loan moratorium is over, it is predicted that homebuyers who bought a property for investment and not for their own stay will face greater pressure.
"It is best for homeowners to find a good long-term tenant as soon as possible so that their property can bring them more cash investment. If homeowners act late, they may face greater downward pressure on rents," Wong said.
Wong said one of the key issues in the rental market is racial discrimination.
"Malaysia often sees racial discrimination in the rental market. It may be due to bad experiences in the past, many homeowners have their own ethnic preferences during the process of choosing tenants. Rent discrimination should not continue to occur in Malaysia. However, the current law in Malaysia is more biased towards tenants, thus causing homeowners to choose tenants. The process will inevitably be stricter," he said.
To promote harmony among all ethnic groups, Speedhome has launched the overstay cash defender (OCD) which is a cash guarantee package to encourage the landlord to rent out their unit to any race tenant.
Wong said under normal circumstances, if a landlord encounters a bad tenant who continues to occupy their property without paying rent, the landlord will have to bear the loss of rent coupled with legal fees for court orders.
But with OCD, Speedhome has them covered, as long as the landlord finds the tenant through the platform and opts in for the cash guarantee package.
"Speedhome will pay the rent to the landlord during the tenant's overstay period in the house and bear the legal fees for evicting out the bad tenant. In addition, after successfully evicting the tenant, the landlord can also claim their loss for the theft and damage from the insurance company," he said.
