“We also expect more foreign companies to set up base here. Our Islamic banking is No. 1 in the world (so) all this will attract foreigners to come into Malaysia,” Lim said, adding that this would also contribute towards pushing up prices of properties in Malaysia.

He said rising oil prices would also cause prices to escalate.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in the Middle East. It’s beyond our control and that (rising oil prices) will affect the other things,” he said adding that property prices in Malaysia were currently at a “manageable position.”

According to Napic’s statistics, the Malaysian property market recorded 376,583 transactions in 2010 worth RM107.44bil.

Both the volume and value of transactions registered double-digit growth of 11.4% and 32.6% respectively from 338,089 transactions worth RM81.02bil in 2009.

Napic valuation director-general Datuk Abdullah Thalith Md Thani said 2010’s (RM107.44bil) value was a new high for the Malaysian property market.

“In 2008 and 2009, we (Malaysian property market) suffered a bit. The volume of property transactions will go up (this year) but the margin will not be as high as last year.

“We had a good year last year because we rebounded from the sub-prime experience,” he said.

Abdullah added that Malaysia’s fundamentals were still good, despite the uncertainties.

“People are worried about oil prices now but bear in mind, we are oil producers too. I will not say that property (by volume and value) will be better than 2010. There will be an increase. The question is the rate of increase.”

Napic expects the property market to remain promising in 2011, supported by various measures proposed under the Tenth Malaysia Plan and Budget 2011.

It said projects such as the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District, Mass Rapid Transit in Greater KL, the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka, the development of the Malaysian Rubber Board land in Sungai Buloh and the redevelopment of Pudu prison were expected to have positive spill-over effects.

Napic also said the Government’s Skim Rumah Pertamaku to assist young adults to own homes below RM220,000, together with other incentives such as stamp duty exemption of 50% on instruments of transfer on a house not exceeding RM350,000 for first time buyers, would increase transaction volumes of homes in this price range.

“With the cessation of the Foreign Investment Committee’s approval for the acquisition of properties by foreigners which took effect in June 2009, property investment in Malaysia will be more attractive to foreigners,” said Napic in a statement.

“Given that foreigners are only allowed to purchase commercial and residential properties priced above RM500,000, it is anticipated that more activities will be recorded in the high-end housing units in sought-after neighbourhoods,” it said.

More than 160,000 condominium homes in the Klang Valley and Penang will finally experience high definition Astro channels by the end of this year – a service they were deprived of since Astro launched its Astro B.yond decoders in December 2009.

Under a package called Astro B.yond IPTV (internet protocol TV), they will also enjoy high speed fibre broadband internet delivered via Time Dotcom's fibre broadband line.

Asfro chief executive officer Datuk Rohana Rohzan said over time, it may work with other broadband service providers to expand this service to landed properties.

SOURCE: Business Times

The Asia Pacific Property Awards 2011 in association with Bloomberg Television have just been judged and Mah Sing Group has been informed that it is amongst the winning companies.

Successful entrants have been invited to attend a high profile gala presentation dinner at the Longemont Hotel Shanghai on May 31. Mah Sing Group will then discover whether the company has won a five-star or highly commended award in the categories of Best Mixed-Use Development for its Southbay City in Penang project, Best Industrial Development for its i-Parc3 at Bukit Jelutong project, Best Retail Development for its Star Avenue at Damansara project and Best Website.

Group managing director Tan Sri Datuk Sri Leong Hoy Kum, and group chief executive said of the awards, “We are very pleased that our projects have been shortlisted to be among the best in Asia Pacific. Last year our residential projects won three awards, and this year, our commercial and industrial projects have been recognised for their outstanding concepts and design. Being one of Malaysia’s most diversified property developer, this recognition is a strong testament to the high quality that we place on each of our project. We also place high emphasis on communicating with our stakeholders though various channels, and thus we are very pleased that our website has been recognised to be among the crème of the crème in the Asia Pacific region. ”

The event is part of the long established International Property Awards and its award winners’ logo is recognised as a symbol of excellence throughout the global industry. Attaining one of these coveted awards is indisputable evidence that Mah Sing Group is capable of beating some exceedingly strong contenders within the highly competitive Asia Pacific property arena.

Later this year, the highest scoring winners from the Asia Pacific Property Awards will compete against other winning companies from Europe, Africa, the Americas and Arabia to find the ultimate World’s Best in each category. The Asia Pacific region has an enviable record of achievement at international level, having scooped seven World’s Best awards in the finals of both 2009 and 2010. No doubt the property industry will be watching and waiting to see if this record number of international wins can be matched or even beaten in 2011.

The judging panel is chaired by Lord Bates of Langbaurgh and consists of more than 60 professionals whose collective knowledge of the property industry is unsurpassed by any other property awards. This year’s judges include UK account manager of Google James Bacon; group chief executive of the National Federation of Property professionals Peter Bolton King; the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) David Dalby; and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Mike McNamara.

SOURCE: The Star

THE Penang Government is getting fewer complaints from developers since the implementation of new housing guidelines for the island in the second half of last year.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the number of visits made by developers to see him about complaints had gone down.

?The Penang Municipal Council has also become more pro-active and their work process has improved,? he told reporters after delivering a talk at the i-Property Talk organised by the Red Tomato Penang Free Newspaper. His topic was on how the local government could help developers.

State Town and Country Planning, Housing, and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai, who launched the event, said MPPP had received seven applications for housing development projects on the island under the new state housing guidelines.

?In return for higher density, developers have to abide by certain conditions such as selling 5% of the project?s units below RM200,000, 5% below RM500,000 and 10% below RM300,000,? he said.

Real Estate Housing Developers? Association Penang chairman Datuk Jerry Chan said that the revised guideline for density on the island allowed a built-up area of 2.8 sq ft to be developed for every sq ft of land compared to less than 1 sq ft for every sq ft previously.

?This guideline, however, does not apply to developers who want to build super condominiums,? he said.

SOURCE: The Star

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Total Units : 178
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