KUALA LUMPUR: A majority of developers expect property prices to continue climbing in the first half of the year in tandem with rising costs.

In a recent survey of members by the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda), about 74% of respondents surveyed generally felt that prices would be on an upward trend, largely influenced by an increase in the cost of development.

Rehda president Datuk Seri Michael Yam said about 36% of the respondents said property prices might increase 10% to 20%, 31% expected prices to increase less than 10%, and 7% expected prices to increase more than 20%.

“The main reason cited was the escalation in land, building materials and labour costs. For example, steel bar price had climbed to RM2,589 per tonne in 2011 from RM2,285 in 2010, while cement had gone up to RM16.33 per bag in 2011 from RM15.64 in 2010,” he told a briefing yesterday on the Rehda Property Industry Survey for the second half of last year.

Two other main factors were the larger deposits required in obtaining housing development licences and the higher market demand.

The deposit for a housing development licence is now 3% of the estimated project cost instead of RM200,000 previously. The survey covered 148 companies or 15% of Rehda’s 979 members, and they were selected from all the states in Peninsular Malaysia.

Yam said 63% of the respondents indicated that they planned to launch projects in the first half of this year. In comparison, 45% had launches in the second half of 2011.

“The top property types to be launched in the first half of this year are two-storey terrace houses, apartments and condominiums as well as service apartments,” he added.

The survey also reported that better sales were expected in the first half of this year compared with the preceding six months. About 67% of the respondents with planned launches in the period under review anticipated to sell 41% of their properties and above. Yam pointed out that this was despite the drop in confidence largely influenced by external factors. “Some of the external factors are the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, fragile US economy and volatility in commodity prices.

“Nevertheless, the Malaysian market is still buoyed by its relatively strong economy, low non-performing loans for the property sector and the Government Transformation Programme and the Economic Transformation Programme (GTP/ETP),” he said.

On challenges for the industry, Yam said the unsold designated bumiputera lots had been the main reason for unsold units recorded in the last four surveys, which were conducted every six months.

“The way forward in solving this is to have a policy for automatic release of designated bumiputera lots. This will enable such ideal units to be put in the open market instead of them remaining unproductive.”

“Additionally, more than half of the respondents believed that the real property gains tax would have an impact on the overall property market.

“Other than that, 48% of respondents reported that they faced financing issues but mainly in the end-financing for buyers due to buyers’ creditworthiness as well as due to banks being more stringent in their lending policies,” he said.

Rehda Federal Territory branch chairman NK Tong said the 45% of respondents that reported launches in second half of 2011 represented a slight drop from the 58% in the first half of 2011.

“The average size per project launch has also declined to 145 units from 160 units for the period under review,” he said.

“Sales were encouraging for the period as more than half of respondents who had launches sold more than 40% of their launched units,” he said, adding that the majority of the units launched were landed properties, but Kuala Lumpur and Penang were more focused on strata-title properties.

Rehda announced that the first Malaysia Property Exposition for 2012 would be held from March 2 to 4 and would feature some foreign developers.

SOURCE: The Star

Moulmein Rise, a 27-storey iconic structure located in Pulau Tikus, Penang.  It comprises shop offices at level 1 & 2 and lifestyle suites from level 5 to 27.

With impressive views of the sea fronting Gurney Drive, it defines the significance of high living with comfort and style. Designed architecturally to be a modern building, it includes a host of very desirable amenities with five-star luxurious features and state-of-art security system.

Property Project : Moulmein Rise
Location : Pulau Tikus, Penang
Property Type : Luxury Suites & Shop Offices
Tenure : Freehold
Developer : Belleview Group

Location Map

KUALA LUMPUR: Higher housing starts and building plan approvals last year signify confidence of developers and investors in the development activity, said National Property Information Centre (Napic) director Dr Zailan Mohd Isa.

Some 400,000 transactions valued more than RM100 million were undertaken during the first three quarters of last year.

Zailan said the second quarter of 2011 was the most active period during the period with more than 115,000 transactions recorded.

Housing starts, a key economic indicator, refer to the number of residential building construction projects begun during a particular period.

Speaking at the 5th Malaysian Property Summit 2012, Zailan said residential property sub-sector expanded significantly by 23.2 per cent after recording a 8.8 per cent growth for similar period in 2010.

At a media briefing, summit chairman and real estate agency CH Williams Talhar and Wong (WTW) managing director Foo Gee Jen does not expect prices to soften within KL although the external uncertainties may have led property buyers to be more cautious.

Choy Yue Kwong, who is president of the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector (PEPs) said past crises have shown that although property prices may drop in cities like Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya for a short period, prices also pick up as fast.

Zailan expects the vacant space in the retail and office sectors to be absorbed as more space taken up from the market as private investment spurred by the Economic Transformation Programme takes place.

He described the outlook for the 2012 property market as bright with strong demand as developers and investors capitalise on the government’s incentives.

Demand for development land will also increase from the spillover effect of projects such as highways such as Ampang-Cheras-Pandan Elevated Highway, Guthrie-Daman-sara Expressway, Damansara-Petaling Jaya Highway, Pantai Barat-Banting-Taiping Highway, Sungai Dua-Juru Highway and Paroi-Senawang Highway.

Source: Business Times

BM City is an interconnected, self-contained and thriving development that blends lifestyles with commercial in one elegant high-rise tower of designer suites perched above eight floors of retail outlets. The community here is set to herald in a new era of chic urban lifestyles with doorstep access to working, shopping, dining and entertainment options.

BM City Mall featuring a myriad selection of lifestyle facilities such as chic galleries and trendy boutiques. BM City Suites and its comprehensive range of facilities are designed to cater to three generations of Designer Suites. There is just so much to do in keeping one fully occupied in their urban retreat.

BM City Mall
40 Units of 2 storey shop office
(built-up area from 1,910 sq.ft. to 10,726 sq.ft.)

32 units kiosk
(built-up area from 164 sq.ft. to 6,871 sq.ft.)

BM City Suites
3 block of Designer Suites with 528 units
(built up area from 594 sq.ft. to 1,441 sq.ft.)

Podium floor
Facility – Landscape area
Approximately 80,000 sq.ft. (1.83 acre)

Car Park – 5 storey (2nd floor – 6th floor)
Car park bay – 1,450 nos.

Besides being surrounded by a host of public amenities and infrastructures, BM City is also within close proximity to the Penang Bridge and North-South Expressway to accord residents’ easy accessibility and total convenience.

• 5 mins to North-South Highway
• 10 mins to Penang Bridge
• 15 mins to Juru Auto City

A DEVELOPER is building 554 low medium-cost apartment units along Lebuhraya Halia in Tanjung Tokong, Penang.

Currently 30% complete, the 38-storey Taman Bukit Erskine developed by Ivory Villas Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary company of Ivory Properties Group Berhad, is expected to be completed in 2014.

Ivory Properties Group Berhad executive director Ron Loh said each unit with a built-up area of 654sq ft comes with three bedrooms, a bathroom and a washroom.

“Despite being a low-medium cost project, the apartments offer good views,” he said in a press conference at Penang Time Square on Friday.

He added that the project was abandoned for 11 years due to the 1997 economic crisis and was revived when Ivory took up the project as a white knight in 2007.

Originally named Fettes Villa, the project was later renamed Mount Erskine Development which consists of The Peak Residences, The Latitude and Taman Bukit Erskine.

Loh said the group had since changed the initial 500sq ft layout plan to 654sq ft and increased the units from 363 to 554.

He also said former purchasers who had paid the deposit in the previous project can opt to purchase the units or get a full refund next year.

“According to a court order, we can only refund the deposit a year after we launch this project.

“So far, 30% of the 363 former purchasers wanted to continue with this project,” he said.

State Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai who launched the project said that he had contacted Rapid Penang to consider plying the route there.

“They used to ply the route but in 2007, they stopped due to poor response.

“I suggest that the bus company conduct a study on the need to service the route there since the apartments are coming up,” he said.

He added that the public could send their feedback to Rapid Penang at rapidcare@rapidpg.com.my.

Wong also said that since 2008, seven abandoned projects including Taman Bukit Erskine had been revived and were at different stages of completion.

The projects are Desa Aman in Paya Terubong, Taman Cemerlang in Bandar Baru Air Itam, Mengkuang Heights and Taman Guar Perahu Indah in Central Seberang Prai, Taman Orkid Indah in North Seberang Prai and Taman Pekatra in South Seberang Prai.

On a related issue, Wong said the request for proposal (RFP) period for the revival of the Majestic Heights project in Paya Terubong ended on Jan 6.

He added that the Malaysia Building Society Berhad and the property liquidator Deloitte Kassim Chan had called for the RFP on Oct 7 last year.

“Phase 2A, 2B and 3A have been abandoned.

“They are going through the submissions by several developers.

“We hope that the phases can be completed soon after being abandoned for more than 10 years,” he said.

Source: The Star