Petaling Jaya: Bank Negara Malaysia had consulted property developers, seeking their inputs on increasing the real property gains tax (RPGT) to curb speculation, people familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Such a move, if announced in the upcoming Budget 2012, will be the second time the central bank will have moved to curb excessive speculation in the property market this year.

Early this year, the government capped loans for buyers of third property to 70 per cent.

Glomac Bhd's group managing director, Datuk FD Iskandar FD Mansor said the impact of RPGT will depend on what rate and form the RPGT will take.

"Such concerns were possibly relevant last and early this year, but since April, the situation has cooled down," said Iskandar after the company's annual general meeting yesterday.

"I hope they don't do it. It is not necessary," he said. Developers are concerned that imposing fresh regulation will be an unwelcome game-changer. This is because of concerns on the global economic situation.

"What we need are clear and transparent guidelines which will not deter foreign investors away," said Iskandar, adding that for Glomac, only a neglible five to 10 per cent of their buyers are speculators.

In the Budget 2010, government had reimposed the RPGT at 5 per cent, which took effect January 1 2010.

Meanwhile, Iskandar told reporters that Glomac will be launching properties with gross development value of RM3.8 billion in the next few years Its current unbilled sales stand at RM550 million.

This year, it will launch several projects such as RM250 million Mutiara Damansara residences, RM250 million commercial project Glomac Cyberjaya 2, and RM400 million mixed development project, Glomac Utama, in Petaling Jaya.

He is confident that Glomac will maintain its good earnings in the current financial year ending April 2012.

"We have various types of property. Our township projects are doing well with record sales, there is a good take-up rate for our commercial property, while our strata title properties are still doing good."

He pointed out that withbanks being in strong position and highly liquid, the property market, especially in Kuala Lumpur, is still in good demand with confidence level still strong.

Iskandar said Glomac is not active in exploring opportunities abroad as "there are plenty of opportunities in Malaysia itself, especially in the KL Greater Area which cannot be missed". – By Roziana Hamsawi

SOURCE: Business Times

PETALING JAYA: Property stocks face pressure in the coming months with foreign shareholders expected to pare down their stakes on concerns over the weakening ringgit and less bullish housing sales next year due owing to an anticipated global economic slowdown.

RHB Research has downgraded the property sector to “underweight” from “neutral” for the fourth quarter on lack of short-term catalysts, and said it expected the sector to continue underperforming the broader market.

“Valuations of many property stocks have become cheaper, but we continue to see further downside for the sector due to the two reasons given.

“We are also advising investors to avoid high beta tactical property sector play, given that heightening market risk premium of the global economy slipping into a double-dip recession is rising,” it said.

In tandem with other falling Asian currencies, the sharp weakening of the ringgit by 8% in less than two months suggests there would be more foreign equity selling going forward.

“This is reinforced by the declining liquidity in the system that has just started to come off in recent months. We take particular caution on large-cap stocks such as UEM Land, SP Setia and Mah Sing Group,” the research house said.

It expects developers to set less aggressive sales targets for 2012 after enjoying a good run in the past two years.

“While the effect of our expected sector-wide slowdown in property sales by 5% to 10% (based on a protracted growth assumption) has yet to be seen in the physical property market, as it takes time to filter through, the situation may become worse than expected if the global economy slips into a double-dip recession,” it said.

Kenanga Research, in a recent note, had also downgraded the property sector to “underweight” from “neutral” as good news flow from the sector seemed to have no positive impact on share prices.

“Developers did some landbanking during this quarter, but no real share price avail. We highlighted in our last third-quarter sector report that news flow is unlikely to re-rate developers’ share prices convincingly, but rather lend support to current levels.

“We felt the sector had outlived its bull run as the Kuala Lumpur Property Index uptrends tended to last no longer than 1½ years. This time around, the bull run lasted for 1¾ years,” it said.

The research house noted that the Sime-E&O merger and acquisition play had not resulted in an overly exciting share price performance for either party.

Also, Bank Negara was contemplating changing the computation of property mortgages to net pay from gross pay, which could be a negative for the sector, it said.

“Loans approved for residentials have also eased slightly. Malaysian real estate investment trusts, like CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust which is attempting to acquire East Coast Mall (in Kuantan), saw some share price rally. It does indicate investors are moving toward lower beta or more risk-averse stock,” Kenanga said.

SOURCE: The Star

The Curve, condo by the bridge. Located just next to The View Condominium with unobstructed view of the sea and the Penang bridge. This residential scheme comprises two 31-storey condominium blocks with a total of 296 units.

* THIS PROJECT HAS ALREADY BEEN CANCELLED *

Project Name : The Curve Condominium
Location : Batu Uban, Gelugor, Penang
Property Type : Condominium
Built-up Area : 1,000 sq.ft. – 2,000 sq.ft. onwards
Total Units : 296
Land Tenure : Freehold
Developer : Lengkap Impresif Sdn. Bhd.
Contact No : 04-226 2000
Indicative Price : RM380/sqft. onwards

KUALA LUMPUR: Property developers will be forced to raise prices of residential properties by as much as 20 per cent due to rising cost of building materials

The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda), however, does not think this will lead to a property glut.

“In Malaysia, there are very few investment portfolios that one can hold. Besides stocks and bonds, the other alternative is property and one can never go wrong on that,” Rehda president Datuk Michael Yam Kong Choy claimed.

Rehda is optimistic that property prices will pick up in the second half of this year and 2012, given the positive outlook of the Malaysian economy.

Yam said the property sector has a direct correlation to the economic condition as demand for properties increases during a booming economy.

“Unless there is a serious financial crisis, I see steady uptake in properties,” he told reporters after Rehda’s first half 2011 property update yesterday.

On building materials cost, Yam said prices of items, such as bricks, steel, cement and sand, which are major construction components, have increased to 89 per cent from 32 per cent within eight years.

Yam said developers these days can only afford a net margin of about 5 per cent to 10 per cent because of high cost of building materials.

“Look at SP Setia Bhd, one of the biggest developers in Malaysia with a market capitalisation of nearly RM7 billion, but made only around RM250 million in net profit last year. There are other businesses which make much more than property developers,” Yam said.

The high cost of building materials and land prices and the shortage of labour will continue to be the main challenges faced by property developers in Malaysia, he added.

On the trend moving forward, Yam said popularity of properties in the vicinity of transport modes will be more desirable and those looking for landed properties would be more willing to move further out from city centre areas.

In the last 12 months, companies such as SP Setia and UEM Land Holdings Bhd have been buying land in Ulu Langat, Selangor, in anticipation of demand for properties in the area. – By Sharen Kaur

Source: Business Times

KUALA LUMPUR: More Malaysian developers are expected to invest abroad to diversify their source of earnings and avoid tough industry rules at home.

"Increasing affluence would accelerate these outward investments," The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda) president Datuk Seri Michael Yam Kong Choy said after Rehda's first half 2011 property update yesterday.

Recently, SP Setia Bhd said it is buying land in Melbourne, Australia, for RM81 million cash, its second foray into Melbourne.

Other developers that have been investing overseas include Berjaya Land Bhd, Lion Group, Sunway Group, PJ Development Holdings Bhd, WCT Bhd, Glomac Bhd and Gamuda Bhd.

Yam also said more individuals will invest in properties overseas as part of their portfolio diversification strategy.

In the last few years, property developers from Australia and the UK have been showcasing more of their products in Malaysia.

Yam also thinks that more regulations and legislation imposed by the authorities would accelerate such overseas investments.

Rehda vice-president and ex-chairman of its Selangor branch Mustaza Mohamad said there are too many laws governing the property sector in Malaysia.

"This is a very rigid industry. We need to have flexible policies. Whether the Ministry Of Housing And Local Government, Bank Negara Malaysia or state authorities, we need to know if the policies are good for us or not," he said.

Rehda council member and head of property operations at Sime Darby Property Bhd, Wan Hashimi Albakri, said Malaysia should be a more free market economy.

"Developers are pressured to sell cheaper houses. But in reality, there are no more cheap houses as the cost has gone up from 30-odd per cent to more than 80 per cent in the last few years.

"The government should be putting in more money in peoples' pockets. There should be more wealth creation. Banks also should take a haircut for those buying properties," he said.

SOURCE: Business Times