Real estate players want tax perk continuation

Real estate players want tax perk continuation

The government should extend the property tax incentives that expire on Dec 24, temporarily revoking the lending curbs to provide a longer visa for foreign buyers, which would support the housing market in 2021, say three real estate associations.

Chaiyarat Thampeera, a director of the Thai Condominium Association, said the government should offer incentives to help the economy and the property sector during the downturn.

"Measures that are about to expire should be extended or reused to refresh consumer sentiment amid this slowdown," he said.

Among them are property tax incentives -- a cut in transfer and mortgage fees to 0.01% from 2% and 1%, respectively, for new residential units priced 3 million baht and lower, which runs from Oct 22, 2019 to Dec 24, 2020.

On Dec 9, the Thai Condominium Association, the Housing Business Association and the Thai Real Estate Association submitted a letter to the Finance Ministry, proposing five measures to stimulate the economy through the property sector. The letter asked for an extension of the property tax incentives set to expire on Dec 31, 2021 with no ceilings on unit prices and an expansion to resold homes, beyond new units.

All regulations regarding lending curbs should be revoked temporarily until an economic recovery helps homebuyers access mortgages, as banks' existing criteria for home loans are already stringent, said Mr Chaiyarat.

"Some people want to invest in property as prices are attractive," he said. "The rules should be relaxed for investment buyers as most of them are not speculators."

To boost condo purchases among foreign buyers who have higher purchasing power than local demand, the three associations pushed for longer visas, including five years for units priced 3-5 million baht, 10 years for 5-10 million baht and a permanent visa for units priced more than 10 million baht.

Mr Chaiyarat said the "Baan Dee Mee Down" scheme, offering a 50,000-baht rebate to homebuyers from Nov 27, 2019 to March 31, 2020, should be upgraded by increasing the amount to 100,000 baht. Another proposal in the letter was reducing the land and building tax for another two years to 2021-22.

The three groups scheduled the House and Condo Fair at Paragon Hall on March 4-7, with more than 1,000 projects from 200 developers.

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