Bank Negara: Risks contained for non-residential property sector despite challenges
Risks in the non-residential property (NRP) sector remained contained in the second half of 2024 (2H 2024) despite continued challenges
Certified financial planner Kelvin Goh of Ringgit Minded said borrowers will end up paying more in interest, while National House Buyers Association secretary-general Chang Kim Loong said it will only benefit banks and developers.
Goh said a longer mortgage will only delay the borrower’s financial freedom.
He said individuals with limited financial literacy might buy into schemes that offer lower monthly instalments, leading to them “over-committing to expensive homes”.
He warned that longer mortgages will lead to a phenomenon known as “second-generation loans”, where children are forced to pay the monthly instalments when their parents pass away.
“This is especially true for B40 families, where retirees may struggle to continue paying mortgage instalments, forcing their children to hold onto properties they do not need or cannot afford to maintain.
“Children will then become trapped in financial obligations they did not ask for, which limits their financial freedom,” he told FMT.
Tabling Budget 2025 on Oct 18, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the Public Sector Home Financing Board will introduce a youth housing financing scheme to enable young civil servants to apply for housing loans with tenures of up to 40 years.
More recently, it was reported that the finance ministry, Bank Negara Malaysia and the housing and local government ministry will be discussing several new proposals, one of which is to provide long-term mortgages under the National Housing Policy.
Currently, housing loans have a maximum tenure of 30 years.
Goh pointed out that civil servants who opt for a 40-year mortgage should be prepared to continue making monthly payments even after they retire.
“This is not ideal since retirement is meant to be enjoyed, not spent paying off debt,” he said.
Former Umno leaders Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan disagreed that extending housing loan terms would be a solution to the affordable housing shortage crisis.
In their Keluar Sekejap podcast last week, Khairy described longer mortgages as “debt until death”.
He said it would lead to financial problems for buyers but will not solve the real problem of too many unaffordable homes.
