Villa Pondok Upeh, strategically located along Jalan Pondok Upeh within the established township of Balik Pulau, Penang. This project comprises 28 units of bungalow houses with 4 different types of layout.
Property Project : Villa Pondok Upeh
Location : Balik Pulau, Penang
Property Type : 2-storey Bungalow
Land Area: 5,800 sq.ft.
Built-up: 4,400 sq.ft.
Total Units : 28
Indicative Price : RM1,600,000 onwards
Developer : Ujung Pelangi
Contact No.: 04-227 2881
PETALING JAYA: Mah Sing Group Bhd will launch RM2.5bil to RM3bil worth of projects in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor this year to meet its sales target of RM2bil for the current financial year ending Dec 31.
Group managing director and chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said the projects would comprise an array of commercial, residential and industrial properties.
The two commercial projects are Icon City Petaling Jaya and Star Avenue@D’Sara, while the industrial project is iParc 3@Bukit Jelutong.
Residential projects lined up for launch in the Klang Valley include Hijauan Residence in Cheras, Kinrara Residence, Aman Perdana, Bayu Sekamat, M Suites@Jln Ampang, M City@Jln Ampang and Garden Plaza in Cyberjaya.
There are also three residential projects to be launched in Penang – Legenda@Southbay, Icon Residence and Ferringhi Residence. The project in Johor Baru is Sierra Perdana.
Leong said Mah Sing’s RM2bil sales target for this year was higher than the record sales of RM1.5bil achieved last year.
As at April 11, the developer recorded sales of RM738mil, which was about 37% of its sales target for this year. Mah Sing also has unbilled sales of RM1.3bil as at Dec 31, 2010 that will be realised over the next two to three years.
For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010 (FY10), Mah Sing achieved profit after tax and minority interest of RM118mil, a 25.5% increase over RM94mil in 2009. Group revenue for FY10 was also higher at RM1.1bil against RM702mil previously.
Leong said Mah Sing would aggressively expand its land bank and was now looking for suitable prime land in greater Kuala Lumpur, Penang island and Johor Bahru.
Last year, the group undertook 10 land acquisition exercises. This year, it has so far signed one deal.
“These are prime land which can yield remaining gross development value (GDV) and unbilled sales of about RM14.1bil. It should keep the group busy for the next seven years,” he added.
Leong said Mah Sing aimed to buy land that could provide GDV of RM7bil to RM12bil this year. He said the group had the resources to fund the acquisitions.
Besides making outright land purchase, the group is also open to joint ventures with land owners.
“We are scouting for land near the proposed MRT stations, as the new transport infrastructure would create higher value for these land,” he added.
Mah Sing’s upcoming projects that are located near the proposed MRT stations along the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line include Star Avenue@D’Sara (near Taman Industri Sungai Buloh station) and One Legenda and Hijauan Residence (near Taman Suntex station).
Projects along the proposed circle line include M Suites (near Great Eastern mall stop), M City (near Ampang point station) and Icon Residence Mont Kiara (near Matrade stop).
Star Avenue@D’Sara, the first night-guarded concept shop-office development, is one of the first new commercial projects coming up along Jalan Sungai Buloh. The RM402mil project comprises 3-storey shop offices and retail lots.
The RM980mil Kinrara Residence is a medium-high-end residential project on about 139 acres in Puchong. It comprises superlink residences, semi-detached units and bungalows.
M-City@Jalan Ampang will feature residential suites, designer small-office home-office (soho), sky villas and boutique retail units on five acres of freehold land.
The RM1.2bil project is targeted for preview in the second half of this year. Its first-phase preview will be designer soho and 3-storey boutique retail shops.
Icon Residence Mont’ Kiara will feature 260 partially-furnished residences with a GDV of RM408mil. The development will offer about 200 different unit layouts in three iconic towers of 26, 28 and 36 storeys.
Dubbed garden terraces in the sky, the residences will have price tags from RM1.148mil.
SOURCE: The Star
Suria Vista apartment located in a lush, beautiful and peaceful community consisting of 256 units of apartment at approximately 700 sq ft per unit. Green with trees on the hill, landscaped garden on the structure along with children’s playground. Relaxing atmosphere equipped and secured with 24 hours security guards and CCTV surveillance.
Property Project : Suria Vista
Location : Paya Terubong, Penang
Property Type : Apartment
No. of Blocks : 1
Total Units : 256
Built-up Area : 700 sq.ft
Developer : OHM Group
Indicative Price: RM 116,000 onwards
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian developers have won four top places out of the 14 categories contested in the Fiabci International Prix d’ Excellence Award 2011 with another three being runners-up, making this year’s outing the most lucrative.
The winners, from nine countries namely the United States, China, India, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Hungary, Singapore and Cyprus, were announced in a gala event held in Cyprus on Thursday night.
The Malaysian developers who picked up the four awards were SP Setia Bhd, Gloharta Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Sunway Pyramid Sdn Bhd and The Western Langkawi Resort & Spa.
SP Setia won the award for Precint 3 Setia Eco Park in the low-rise development category, Gloharta’s Bunga Raya Island Resort and Spa in Kota Kinabalu was the winner in the resort development category and Sunway Pyramid’s mall expansion was top in the retail development category.
The other winner was The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa.
The runners-up were MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture Sdn Bhd’s Kuala Lumpur Smart Tunnel, Coronation Springs Sdn Bhd’s Springtide Residences in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, and Cahaya Jauhar Sdn Bhd’s Kota Iskandar (Phase 1) in Nusajaya, Johor. About 60 projects were submitted for the international award.
International Real Estate Federation (Fiabci) Malaysia president Yeow Thit Sang said this was an indication that our standards had gone up.
“For those who won, their victory is a marketing tool for them. It is a recognition of the holistic nature of their respective development and how it benefits the community it is intended for. They have won because they have met the criteria,” he said.
The successful outing, he added, was significant as it showed that the Malaysian property sector was evolving with new products and new concepts entering the market.
Setia Eco Park spans 790 acres of freehold land in Shah Alam of which 25% of the land has been set aside for lakes, gardens and walkways. It has extensive facilities like tennis courts, swimming pools, badminton and squash courts.
The award marked the SP Setia group as the only Malaysian developer to be recognised three times as a winner at the global level by Fiabci.
It was the second Prix d’Excellence Award for Setia Eco Park following its 2007 win in the Master Plan category.
“We are extremely proud of this achievement and recognition given by an international world body like Fiabci. As the country’s No. 1 property developer, we hold our heads high as we carry the Malaysian flag abroad,” said SP Setia group president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin.
SOURCE: The Star
When it comes to what is the best investment instrument to leverage one’s savings on, invariably the subject on property will crop up. So, is it a wonder why the property market is so hot?
Rightly or wrongly so, more Malaysians and investors from around the world believe that investing in property is a better investment choice than others, and are putting more of their “eggs” in the property basket.
Although property investment is not a fool-proof investment, it has been seen many times over that one cannot go seriously wrong with property, unless its location is really poor – for example, it is inaccessible or the project is abandoned before its completion.
Compared with other big ticket items like automobiles which usually depreciate in value the moment the vehicle is driven out of the showroom, property is one of the more reliable in terms of investment return.
Most of the time, even average property developments have the potential to enjoy some form of capital appreciation and steady income streams (if they are leased out to good tenants).
The lack of other more reliable investment alternatives, given the volatile nature of the stock market and prevailing low savings rates, has certainly given an added edge to property investment.
Although Bank Negara has raised the overnight policy rate (OPR) a number of times since the onset of the global financial crisis, borrowing rates are still one of the lowest in recent times.
The easy (competitive or affordable) housing packages or financing schemes also make buying property a viable proposition. After a downpayment of 5% or 10%, a buyer need not make any more payment until the property is completed and this could be two or three years down the road. The delivery period for landed housing units is two years, while high-rise and commercial projects take three years.
To ease the heat in the market, it looks like it is timely to put a stop to these easy housing schemes, since the First Home Scheme (FHS) to promote home ownership among first time house buyers will take care of the needs of the critical group – those who have yet to buy their first home. Moreover, the purpose of the easy housing schemes promoted by the developers was to boost property buying as there was a sudden pullback among buyers when the global financial crisis first broke out in 2008. But, since early 2009, property sales and prices have surpassed the levels recorded before the crisis.
If the easy home ownership schemes are allowed to continue, they will dilute the effect of Bank Negara’s move in raising OPR to arrest speculative property buying and overheating in the market.
In fact, it has been found that persistent speculators are still undeterred by the imposition of the loan to value ratio of 70% for third mortgage borrowers. To circumvent this new ruling, some borrowers have resorted to using the names of their spouse or other family members when applying for loans.
For the FHS to be effective in promoting home ownership among first time buyers, the scheme needs to be fine-tuned with more workable guidelines.
Under the scheme, those earning RM3,000 or less could obtain 100% financing if they buy houses priced between RM100,000 and RM200,000, and the repayment period is stretched up to 30 years.
However, in the Klang Valley and Penang (especially), the land alone usually constitutes 20% to 25% of the cost of the property, and so it is important that the land for the FHS be provided by the Government.
If developers do not have to fork out a hefty sum for the land, they will be able to spend on better quality building materials, and the result will be better quality projects.
It is a well known fact that house prices, especially landed property, have increased beyond the RM200,000 mark.
To ensure homes built under the FHS will not turn into urban slums like many of the low-cost housing schemes in our vicinity, it is sensible to raise the prices of these homes to at least RM300,000.
We cannot assume that all first time buyers do not mind staying in high-rise dwellings, and so it is better to offer them the choice of landed property as well. Those who sign up for landed schemes should be prepared to pay a higher price.
It is necessary to draw up clear and specific guidelines for developers who are involved in the FHS to ensure they give due emphasis on quality in their projects and that includes location. Notably, many unsold housing units are those built in unfavourable and inaccessible areas.
SOURCE: The Star
