THE Star Property Fair 2011 in Penang saw millions of ringgit in sales recorded within hours of its opening.

BSG Property sold two bungalows and a terrace house at its Permai Gardens project, a gated and guarded landed property in Tanjung Bungah, for about RM7.3mil.

Its sales and marketing executive Chong Hock Aun said all three units were sold by lunch time.

?It is certainly above expectation, considering that the opening day is a weekday,? he said, adding that all three buyers were locals.

IJM Land Bhd?s sophisticated and stylistic Pearl Regency project also received plenty of attention from visitors, with three units sold for a total of RM2.5mil by early afternoon.

Senior sales and marketing executive Moira Ong said they did not expect such strong sales on the opening day.

?The number of visitors who made enquiries was also fantastic,? she said.

Ong encouraged prospective buyers to act fast as the RM500 million gross development value (GDV) project had sold more than 80% of its 187 available units.

?Visitors also showed keen interest on premier developments which have yet to be launched such as The Address in Bukit Jambul and Permatang Sanctuary in Bukit Mertajam,? she said.

Henry Butcher Malaysia (Penang) Sdn Bhd sold at least 23 units of suites worth about RM17mil in Mansion One on Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah.

Its senior business development manager Angeline Woo attributed the success to the services offered at the condominium such as room service, housekeeping, concierge, limousine and travel desk as well as secretarial services.

?You don?t usually find these in normal condominiums,? she said.

There was strong foreign interest in properties developed by Ivory

Properties Group received enquiries from visitors from countries such as Taiwan, India and several Western countries.

Assistant manager (corporate property) Michael Wong described the crowd response as very encouraging.

?We did not expect the visitors to make buying decisions on day one as they would usually check out property offerings from as many property developers possible and make comparisons,? he said.

The premier property development group sold a condominium unit of its The Peak Residences at Mount Erskine while a visitor registered for its upcoming luxury high rise, The Latitude, expected to be launched end of this year.

Wong said he expected the number of visitors and sales to rise on the weekend.

SOURCE: The Star

THE lure of prizes such as Samsung 32-inch LCD TVs, Acer Iconia Tabs and Samsung Galaxy Tabs drew visitors to the counters for the ?Surf, Click & Win? contest at the Star Property Fair 2011.

Visitors headed to the counters on Level 2 of G Hotel and the new wing of Gurney Plaza, Penang, to participate in the contest.

To participate, visitors have to bring the cut-out of the contest coupon which is published in The Star until Sunday and answer three simple questions correctly after which they get to try their luck in a lucky dip.

If they draw the lucky draw cube, they are required to come back to Gurney Plaza at 8.30pm for another lucky dip where they are guaranteed a prize.

There are 10 prizes up for grabs daily until Sunday. They include Samsung 32-inch LCD TVs, Acer Iconia Tabs, Samsung Galaxy Tabs and RM200 cash vouchers.

The prizes over the four days, worth RM30,000, are sponsored by IJM Land.

Among the many visitors who took part in the contest yesterday was Harjit Kaur, 57, who was browsing for property at the fair.

?I am just looking around for a property and I stumbled upon the contest,? said Harjit Kaur.

Unfortunately for her, she did not draw the lucky draw cube but she was not about to give up just yet.

?My family members will be coming tomorrow (today) and hopefully we will have better luck then,? she said.

The contest also drew participation from exhibitors at the fair such as Danny Lim, who also did not manage to get the lucky draw cube in the dip.

Lim said it would be ideal for him to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

?Since I would be here for the whole pro-perty fair, I will continue to try my luck,? he said.

Apart from the contest, visitors can also claim a mystery gift from The Star circulation booth at the Gurney Plaza new wing by cutting out the gift coupon printed in The Star daily until Sunday.

The gift redemption, available daily till Sunday, is on a first-come-first-served basis while stocks last. Hong Leong Bank is sponsoring RM5,000 worth of mystery gifts.

This is the second year the bank is participating in the fair and it will promote its housing loans, credit cards and personal loans at its booth.

Visitors who bought The Star yesterday and on Wednesday also got to redeem a gift sponsored by IJM with the sticker attached to the front page of the newspaper on either day.

SOURCE: The Star

BOOTHS featuring attention-grabbing scale models and creative designs are up, signalling the start of the Star Property Fair 2011 which begins today at the ground floor of Gurney Plaza and G Hotel’s level 2.

Workers were seen putting finishing touches to the booths which were adorned with decorative plants and elaborate, contemporary designs.

One of the exhibitors Mah Sing Properties Sdn Bhd spent RM60,000 for its booth.

Mah Sing marketing and sales senior manager (northern region) Venus Ho said the money was spent for printing posters and the elaborate booth decorations.

“We chose a grey-and-white-coloured theme for our booth and by doing so, it makes our posters stand out,” she said, adding that Mah Sing was featuring three projects during the fair.

Touted as Penang’s premier pro-perty expo, the fair, in its ninth edition, is featuring 28 major industry players along with several financial institutions.

Those hunting for their dream homes can find different types of housing at the fair, ranging from villas, bungalows, three-storey houses, condominiums and commercial units.

Among the exhibitors are IJM Land Berhad, Ivory Properties Group Bhd, Belleview Group, DNP Land Sdn Bhd, Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd, Sunway Grand Sdn Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd, MTT Properties and Development Sdn Bhd.

Others in the fray include Reka Indah Development (PG) Sdn Bhd, Ideal Property Development Sdn Bhd, SP Setia Berhad, Boon Siew Group (BSG Property), E&O Berhad, Lone Pine Group of Companies and many more.

Besides gaining an insight into the latest high-end projects or existing property available, visitors can also scout for suitable home financing packages and fantastic residential and commercial property bargains.

Another exhibitor BSG Property has focused on enabling prospective customers to have a spacious feel at their booths.

Its marketing executive Teoh Swee Wen said the booths feature artificial grass and several big posters promoting their latest project Permai Gardens.

Thousands of visitors are ex- pected to throng the four-day event starting from 10am to 10pm daily.

Other than great property bargains, visitors also stand a chance to win fantastic prizes totalling RM30,000 in the Surf, Click & Win contest sponsored by IJM Land.

There will be 10 prizes up for grabs daily and this includes 32” Samsung LCD televisions, Acer Iconia Tabs, Samsung Galaxy Tabs and Parkson vouchers.

To participate, simply cut out the ‘Surf, Click & Win’ advertisement in The Star from today to Sunday.

The special draws will be held daily at 8.30pm on the ground floor of Gurney Plaza’s new wing during the fair.

The fair is organised by The Star in collaboration with Henry Butcher Malaysia (Penang).

There will also be talks and forums by property and property-related professionals during the fair.

Early birds to the fair who bring along stick-ons printed on the front page of the main paper yesterday and today will receive mystery gifts throughout the duration of the fair while stocks last.

They can collect their gifts at The Star circulation booth (N3) on the ground floor of Gurney Plaza’s new wing.

Visitors, who bring along cut-out coupons printed in the StarMetro section from today until Sunday, can also redeem the coupons for a mystery gift at The Star circulation booth on the ground floor of Gurney Plaza’s new wing on a first-come-first-served basis.

Hong Leong Bank Berhad, which has set up a booth each at Gurney Plaza and Level 2 of G Hotel, is sponsoring RM5,000 worth of mystery gifts during the fair.

SOURCE: The Star

PETALING JAYA: CIMB Research expects the proposal by Bank Negara to modify the mode of calculation for household loans to curb domestic speculation in the local property sector to have only a short-term impact.

“We think that any measures to curb domestic speculation are likely to have only a short-lived impact on physical property sales, as was the case when a flat 5% RPGT (real property gains tax) was levied in October 2009 and an LTV (loan-to-value) ratio of 70% was imposed on the third-property purchase in November 2010.

“In both cases, the impact on the real property market was a wait-and-see attitude by buyers for two to three months before they rushed back into the market when they realised that house prices were firm and still rising,” it said yesterday.

The research report was in reference to a recent local news story which reported that the central bank had issued a white paper to obtain feedback on the possibility of basing the calculation of household loans (mortgage and hire purchase) on net pay instead of gross pay.

“The report is yet to be confirmed and even if the measure is implemented, we believe it could be mild as the intention is to curb speculation, not hammer overall sentiment.

“Even if we assume the worst-case scenario where a change in the calculation results in a 26% fall in affordability, in line with the maximum personal tax rate, the affordability ratio is still very healthy,” said CIMB.

CIMB noted that a share prices of property stocks had been on a downtrend since the news report, which also spilled over to construction companies with significant property exposure.

The research house believes that the Government would be careful not to implement measures that would have too negative an impact on the property sector as it would still want to encourage home ownership, and restrictions would have the opposite effect.

“The Government hopes to unlock the value of its idle land in the Klang Valley and measures that would hurt the sector could result in lower bids for the land, and the performance of the property sector affects other key sectors of the economy and property restrictions in the run-up to general elections may not be popular,” it said.

SOURCE: The Star

11 Macallum is an commercial development by PDC Properties located along Gat Lebuh Macallum in Georgetown, Penang. It comprises 53 units of commercial and office lots.

Property Project : 11 Macallum
Location : Georgetown, Penang
Property Type : Commercial
Total Units: 53
Developer : PDC Properties Sdn. Bhd.