Penang was named among the top eight destinations for foreign retirees by Kiplinger, a US-based personal finance and business forecasting publication. This also makes Malaysia the only Asian country to figure in the list as others in the reckoning are Medellin (Colombia), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Salinas (Ecuador), Bilbao (Spain), Coronado (Panama), ... Read More

STRONG OUTLOOK: People willing to buy but it’s very selective and not across the board, says MIEA president THE secondary residential property market is expected to remain strong this year with prices continuing to rise if the current stock remains tight, the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) said. Its president, ... Read More

SOLUTION IN SIGHT?: Federal and state governments seeking to solve woes with more affordable homes for the middle-class MORE than a decade after the repeal of the Rent Control Act 1966 was effected, Penang residents continue to find themselves being "priced out" of owning properties. The act, which was repealed in ... Read More

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that the Launch of the Penang affordable homes scheme registration exercise will commence on Feb 7, 2013. Thirteen thousands units of affordable homes will be made available on the island and mainland. One thousand three units will be on the island at Jalan SP ... Read More

RESIDENTIAL property prices in Penang are likely to rise by 7% to 8% by the first half of 2013 due to the steady demand and a stronger gross domestic product (GDP) projection for 2013. According to the latest Finance Ministry report, the GDP forecast for 2013 is between 4.5% and ... Read More

KUALA LUMPUR: PLB Engineering Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, PLB Land Sdn Bhd, has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Perfect Crystal Sdn Bhd to buy five parcels of land, totalling 611 square metres in north-east district in Penang, for RM5.5 million. The purchase will be financed from internally generated funds, it ... Read More

A REQUEST For Proposal (RFP) for another affordable housing project in George Town has been announced, this time on a 1.7ha plot in Jalan C.Y. Choy. Penang Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow expected 200 to 300 units of affordable housing and low medium-cost (LMC) units ... Read More

GEORGE TOWN: A RM75bil mixed development project proposed in Balik Pulau is too expensive and not viable, says the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS). MNS Penang branch adviser D. Kanda Kumar said it would be cheaper and more viable for a project of such scale to be developed on the mainland ... Read More

KUALA LUMPUR: The income limit of individual borrowers for My First Home Scheme (SRP) will be increased from RM3,000 to RM5,000 per month effective January 2013. This enhancement was one of the SRP’s eligibility criteria slated for improvement under Budget 2013’s announcement last year, Cagamas SRP Bhd said yesterday. For joint borrowers, ... Read More

THE standardised template that all commercial banks in Malaysia have been made to adopt for housing loan agreements will make it easier for customers to understand contract terms and shop around for loans, says the banking association. Chuah Mei Lin, executive director of the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM), ... Read More