Space For Rent
Monday, May 9, 2016, Baishakh 26, 1423 BS, Shaban 1, 1437 Hijri


Myanmar in bid to resuscitate property market
Published :Monday, 9 May, 2016,  Time : 12:00 AM  View Count : 16

YANGON, May 8: Myanmar Construction Entrepreneurs Association has called for efforts to resuscitate the sluggish property market, urging to convene a five-party meeting to resolve the issue.
The five parties are to involve the government, the parliament, entrepreneurs, buyers and sellers.
Currently, the cost of condominiums and purpose-built affordable housing is beyond the reach of low-income families who lack capital or do not meet the requirement for a housing loan.
Myanmar's housing market reached its high water mark between 2011 and 2014 but is currently at almost a complete standstill despite recent legislation opening the rental and ownership market to foreign investment.
Rental rates for condominium prices for foreigners have dropped 20 percent in Myanmar so far this year compared with last year as the number of apartments is increasing in the real estate market.
The number of foreign tenants is also on decline, according to real estate circle.
Previously, well-furnished 1,250-square-feet condominium cost about 1.8 million kyats (1,531 U.S. dollars), a drop from 3 million kyats last year and apartment rental rate for foreigners range from 1 million kyats to 2 million kyats per month, the average rate for houses is over 3,000 U.S. dollars.
In accordance with the approved Condominium Law, beginning this year, foreigners have been allowed to purchase not over 40 percent of condominium apartments in Myanmar.
Applying to high-rise residential building having minimum six floors, the
condominium law prescribes that it shall be built on an area of 20,000 square feet or over and not more than 40 percent of units from the condo should be sold to foreigners.
Under existing rules, foreign ownership of land or property is totally permitted, although foreign companies and individuals have reportedly bought land through Myanmar proxies. Meanwhile, Myanmar started on April 1 to raise the income tax on real estate to five folds.
Any income from real estate under 30 million kyats (about 23, 000 U.S.
dollars) will have to pay tax of 15 percent, while that of between 30-100 million kyats will incur a tax charge of 20 percent and any income received over 100 million kyats will need to pay a 30 percent tax fee.
According to official statistics, real estate stood the fifth largest sectoral
foreign investment in Myanmar with 3 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 4.72 percent of the total of 63.718 billion dollars as of the end of March 2016 since late 1988 when the country's opened to such investment.       ?Xinhua










Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
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