Rehda shouldn’t have announced hike in house prices

The Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) should not have announced that the price of houses would increase by up to 10% before discussing the matter with the Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Ministry. Its minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said he was disappointed with the announcement of the hike, purportedly due to the decrease in petrol and diesel subsidies announced by the government last Monday. "To me, this is an irresponsible statement. We have our own formula and we feel that the reduction in oil subsidy by 20 sen per litre cannot be translated into a house price increase of up to 10%. "I too know about cost structure - even if there is an increase of price of houses, we expect the maximum to be five percent. The people will be more worried as they are already facing rising cost of living, especially in the urban areas," he said after attending a community gathering, here, Sunday. Abdul Rahman was commenting on the reported statement by Rehda president Datuk Seri Michael Yam Kong Choy on Thursday that the fuel price increase of 20 sen per litre was expected to contribute to price increase of houses by up to 10%. On the housing lab held recently, he said the Ministry was compiling the facts and important input. "We are in the midst of preparing a report for the Prime Minister and we will be having a meeting this coming Thursday, specifically to discuss how to reduce the price of houses," he added. - Bernama