KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians have to fork out more money from today to buy more than two houses after Bank Negara slammed the brakes on property speculation.

The central bank announced with immediate effect the implementation of a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 70% for people buying their third or more house, meaning those wanting their third property onwards have to come out with their own cash amounting to 30% of the value of the house.

“Financing facilities for purchase of the first and second homes are not affected and borrowers will continue to be able to obtain financing for these purchases at the present prevailing LTV level applied by individual banks based on their internal credit policies,” Bank Negara said in a statement yesterday.

The central bank said at the national level, property prices had increased steadily and remained manageable compared with the historical trends but for certain hot locations, particularly around the urban areas, faster growth in prices and transactions had been seen.

“This is further supported by an increase in financing provided for multiple unit purchases by a single borrower, suggesting increasing investment activity that is of a speculative nature,” it said.

SOURCE: The Star