THE Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is set to get a push from the Penang Govern-ment.

State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law said a committee would be formed to promote the programme, adding that the state was hoping to get more foreigners to come to Malaysia, especially Penang.

?Penang is now one of the best places to live. We can see Japanese, Australians and Europeans enjoying their long stays here.

?When they like living here long-term, they will buy property in Penang,? he told a press conference in Komtar yesterday.

Law said they wanted to gather travel agents, developers, tourist guides and parties who were keen to promote the programme.

?There are already guidelines in the MM2H programme but they keeps changing.

?The committee will look into it and come out with a standard brochure.?

He added that the biggest tourist arrivals at the Penang International Airport last year came from Indonesia, followed by Singapore, China, Japan, the United States and Taiwan.

?Foreigners who come and buy property here can generate an economic spin-off, for example, on food, education and medical tourism,? he said.

?Developers, travel agents and hotel representatives are among those who will participate in the China (Guangdong) International Tourism Industry Expo 2011 in Guangzhou from Sept 1 to Sept 4 and they can promote MM2H and tourism in Penang.

?The population in Guangzhou is more than 10 million and Penang is an ideal place for them to come for education, investments and tourism,? he said.

Those who are interested to join the committee can contact Law?s office at 04-6505136/2619012.

He will chair a meeting with parties related to the MM2H programme today at his office in Komtar at 3pm.

SOURCE: The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the affordable quality housing programme for urban centres that was launched under a public-private partnership initiative, previously limited to the Klang Valley, would now be extended to the entire country.

Muhyiddin said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak gave the nod to extend the programme to enable the younger generation of Malaysians to own a house.

Muhyiddin said the Government had set out to identify suitable areas for this social development programme.

The Government, through the My First Home Scheme, would provide sites for the construction of houses priced at RM220,000 and below by the private sector based on industrial building standards.

Under the scheme launched by the Prime Minister on March 8, citizens aged 35 and below with a monthly salary below RM3,000 qualify to purchase a house that is priced at no higher than RM220,000 with 100% financing.

Najib said the scheme was formulated following comments made on hisFacebook page as well as in newspapers regarding the difficulties faced by the younger generation to own a house within the price range, especially in the Klang Valley.

Muhyiddin added that the affordable houses were for people in the middle-income group who did not own a house.

In line with the aspirations of the Low-Income House­holds National Key Results Area (NKRA) of the Government Transformation Programme(GTP), the affordable quality housing programme has been designed to prevent people from falling into the low-income bracket due to the increasing cost of living.

Anson Cube, a new commercial development by AZEA Property Investment (API), a Singapore-based company, and its local partner Dot Greenland Sdn Bhd. It is strategically located along Jalan Anson within UNESCO World Heritage Site in George Town. This project comprises 1 block of 5-storey retail lots and offices.

* This project is currently abandoned. Please let us know if you have any update *

Property Project : Anson Cube
Location : Jalan Anson, Georgetown, Penang
Property Type : 5-Storey Complex
Built-up Area: 400 sq.ft to 4,809 sq.ft
Indicative Price: from RM234k to RM2.8m
Land Tenure: Freehold
Developer : Tri Mega Venture

Location Map:

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of SP Setia Bhd, the largest property stock on Bursa Malaysia, rose 5 sen to RM4.15 after meeting earnings expectation for the half way mark of its financial year with analysts confident the company would be able to meet its full year sales target of RM3bil.

Sales for the second quarter and the first half had surpassed previous highs, and revenue for the seven months of its financial year ending October 2011 was already higher than any other full year except for its 2010 financial year.

“Current unbilled sales have touched a record RM3.2bil following strong year-to-date (7 months) pre-sales of RM1.66bil. Setia is very much on track to meet its sales target of RM3bil,” said AmResearch in a note yesterday.

CIMB Investment Bank in a report said some 57% of the sales came from the Klang Valley.

“The four townships in Johor contributed huge sales of RM510mil or 36% of the total while Penang chipped in 7%. The Johor sales were very commendable, being an unprecedented RM1bil on an annualised basis compared with past sales of RM400mil to RM500mil per annum,” it said.

“SP Setia’s second half sales should exceed first half sales comfortably as sales from KL EcoCity should be considerable.”

Expected to drive sales this year will be the company’s KL Eco-City project. HwangDBS Vickers Research in its note said KL Eco-City’s RM1.8bil worth of bookings from boutique and strata offices and recent condo tower launch at an average selling price of RM1,200psf, which was a 40% premium to adjacent properties, should be converted soon, following the signing of S&P agreements from mid-June onwards with the completion of DBKL’s land privatisation exercise.

It pointed out that other launches to watch were V Residences and Brook Residences (with a gross development value of RM233mil), Fulton Lane@Melbourne with a projected GDV of RM1.4bil and Aeropod@ Kota Kinabalu (projected GDV of RM1bil but is awaiting approvals).

“SP Setia will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the mass rapid transit with 25% of RNAV exposed to potential interchanges ie KL Eco-City and Jalan Bangsar (near KL Sentral),” said Hwang DBS.

It said SP Setia could be involved with more landbanking deals. Hwang DBS said SP Setia has been the most aggressive developer with four acquisitions year-to-date with a GDV of RM15bil.

AmResearch expects land acquisitions to be the primary valuation driver. “Based on its township track record, SP Setia would be the leading candidate to co-develop a parcel of the prime residential land in Sg Buloh with EPF-owned Kwasa Land, leveraging on its successful Eco Park brand,” it said.

“We are expecting stronger newsflow on this front in the next few months. It is also bidding for the 100-acre seafront land in Bayan Mutiara, Penang – believed to be valued at over RM900mil including reclamation cost, and a potential GDV of over RM5bil,” said the report.

SOURCE: The Star

AZEA Property Investment (API), a Singapore-based company, and its local partner Dot Greenland Sdn Bhd, are investing RM43mil to build a commercial complex.

API chief executive officer Tan Yang Po said the 28,000sq ft complex called Anson Cube would be located on Anson Road in Penang.

She added that it was destined to become Penang?s newest meeting point and business hub due to its strategic location.

?The project site is right smack in an area earmarked for major urban rejuvenation, with two private high-end condominiums also coming up in the locality.?

A joint-venture company, Tri Mega Venture Sdn Bhd, has been set up to undertake the Anson Cube project.

Anson Cube will be a stand-alone five- storey building with the ground floor designated for food and beverage shops and the first floor reserved for alfresco dining.

The second floor has a unique feature as it will be bridal-themed and there will be shops offering wedding-related items and services, while the higher floors in the building will house corporate offices.

?We are now working on getting branded retailers to take up the retail space and as anchor tenant,? said Tan.

?We are targeting high-end tenants for Anson Cube.

?We are now pre-qualifying some of the potential tenants, to ensure that we have the right mix,? she said.

Construction work is scheduled to begin in August 2011 and the building is due to be completed in early 2014.

The company also completed a bulk purchase of 20 luxury high-rise serviced apartment units in Setia Sky Residences near the Kuala Lumpur City Centre for RM28mil late last year.

API, since its inception in 2008, has invested in property around the world, including ?3mil (about RM15mil) worth of Victorian-style apartment blocks in London.

It has also bought 200 units of landed property valued at over US$7mil (about RM21.7mil) in Houston, USA.

In Johor, it is teaming up with two companies linked to the Danga Bay Group to develop Azea Properties @ Danga Bay ? a RM500 million high-end waterfront condominium development.

SOURCE: The Star